


Dream SMP Dream Centric One-Shot Continuations

by mythical_song_wolf



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Accidental Worldbuilding, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - How to Train Your Dragon Fusion, Angst, Aromantic, Asexuality, Author is a Clay | Dream Apologist (Video Blogging RPF), Blood, Clay | Dream Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Demisexuality, Ender Dragon Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Fluff, Gen, Hurt, Hurt Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Immortality, M/M, Mild Blood, Multi, Multiple Pronouns for Eret (Video Blogging RPF), No Beta We Die Like Mushroom The Fox, Not Beta Read, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Other: See Story Notes, Platonic Soulmates, Reincarnation, Sad, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Swearing, Sympathetic Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Tags in Author's Note, Time Loop, Wingfic, Worldbuilding, not even proof read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 62,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28420920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythical_song_wolf/pseuds/mythical_song_wolf
Summary: Starting bit's continuations of some of It_is_Rene_Now's oneshots. But also some chapters inspired by other fics and other thingsRecent Additions: Birdy Dream Prt 2 (Canon Rewrite due to Dream having a Soft Spot for his brothers, even if they don't know he is) [Ft. A Line that Aged Poorly because I seem to accidentally manifest things] & Puppy Pile Prt 2 (Platonic Cuddles + low-key actor au but that's more in prt 1)Note: Additional Tags In Chapter
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF) & Everyone, Other Relationship Tags are in the Chapter Notes
Comments: 180
Kudos: 1240





	1. Soulmark AU

**Author's Note:**

  * For [It_is_Rene_Now](https://archiveofourown.org/users/It_is_Rene_Now/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Opari](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28412208) by [It_is_Rene_Now](https://archiveofourown.org/users/It_is_Rene_Now/pseuds/It_is_Rene_Now). 
  * Inspired by [once again with feeling](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28592391) by [WinterEnchantress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterEnchantress/pseuds/WinterEnchantress). 
  * Inspired by [Together We Fall Apart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28805391) by [Night_Fracturer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Night_Fracturer/pseuds/Night_Fracturer). 



> I hath fallen down the pit that is minecraft again, and the Dream SMP RP has grabbed me by the ankles and forcefully dragged me back into the void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Xali_Ali's soulmark one-shot (I was actually the one to give them this prompt!)
> 
> Everyone someone loves someone else (not just romantic love, I mean all forms of love), their soulmark appears on that person. When they die, the mark they left on others turns black/white. If the love is no longer or slowly no longer being reciprocated, the colouring of the mark slowly fades away until its purely grey.  
> Dream has dozens of marks on him, with his mark being on dozens of others in turn. But many of those marks are dulling, while the marks he left on them are still as bright and vibrant as the day they appeared.
> 
> Note since this is a continuation of their chapter on this, here's something from their notes that applies to this  
> \- Puffy and Niki are older and married  
> \- Puffy and Schlatt had Dream and Tubbo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **TW: Implied Character Death, Mild Blood**  
>  Angst, Hurt Maybe Some Comfort

Phil watched as Techno and Tommy walk back in from sparring only for all three of them to collapse from the sudden pain striking their hearts and souls. The three of them feel a violent shiver crawl up their spines, violently remind of when Wilbur died.

Tommy feared for a moment that it was Tubbo, but shakily and frantically removing the glove on his hand revealed the mark to still be as vibrant as ever. He lets out a relieved sob, _thank god it wasn't Tubbo._ But his soul still ached for the lost person, who died? He desperately needs to know but it also terrified of finding out. Especially since he heard Techno and Phil collapse with him.

Techno only knows one person who has a mark that's on the back of his neck. Dream. He's the first to recover from the pain of losing someone close to his soul, with Phil only taking a bit longer due to it violently reminding him of his the aching pain when he had to kill his own son. How the man managed to fight off two Withers after striking down his own son and feeling his mark turn black is a mystery.

Phil always had a strange sort of fondness for Dream. He reminded Phil of him and his sons. If not for the mask, he would have his heart as open as Tommy, emotions out for the whole world to see. Even then, it was easy to see how much the boy cared for people when the mark he left on people never faded no matter how tattered their relationship became. He could see it on Techno's nap, behind Tommy's ear, and on his own wrist. The ever-bright neon green mask on their skin. Even Ghostbur's mark, though damaged from the stab wound when he was killed, was still so blindingly bright.

* * *

Punz was with the Badlanders when it happened. All of them collapsed except for Skeppy, who's first instinct was to check on Bad.

"It's Dream," was the first thing Bad said once any of them could even speak. He takes off his hood and removes his glasses, showing the group the now blacked out mark on his temple.

They all scattered to check the mark, if it truly was faded. If Dream truly was dead. Sam's right shoulder, Punz' forearm, Ant's neck. The mark was blacked out as well. Dream's dead. By the ice cold dread that filled their bodies when it happened, it tells them he died cold and alone. Bad sobs in Skeppy's arms. Ant curls up on himself and silently cries. Sam doesn't even try to hide his sobbing. Punz gets up and walks away from the group to punch something or scream or- _or something,_ anything to take this cold ache away.

* * *

Once the pain subsided enough for them to get up, Karl was the first to realize _why_ they all collapsed. He gasped and covered his mouth, pointing to Quackity's blacked out mark from Dream.

Quackity saw the blacked out mark and froze, feeling and looking at the mark. It was ice cold. Sapnap and George were frozen in place, hearts breaking at the thought of their ~~ex-friend? enemy?~~ best friend being gone for good.

Their hearts were all encased in freezing ice. All of them shivering from the cold, despite it being a nice summer's day. Karl shuffled over to Quackity, desperate for something to hold onto and to try and make the cold ache in his chest go away. George and Sapnap let the cold consume them as they crumpled into themselves and cried.

* * *

Fundy was the first to collect himself enough to try and calm everyone. He managed to get his family up and out of the Bakery, saying they need to find the others, make sure none of them are facing this alone.

He spots Quackity first, before seeing the figure curled up to him dressed in purple. Karl. As his group approached, Eret and Niki leapt in to comfort George and Sapnap.

"He- He's gone..." George choked out before Sapnap collapsed back into a quiet fit of sobs, with Niki rubbing his back, trying to sooth him.

Fundy lets them have a few more moments to collect themselves. Once Karl and Quackity are up and ready to check on the others, George and Sapnap join them with shaking arms and aching hearts.

They find Punz outside his base, punching one a wall repeatedly with bloodied knuckles. It's Sapnap who catches his wrist to stop him, before him and George hug the blonde while the others go inside the base to comfort the Badlanders.

Eret and Niki get Ant out of the corner he crammed himself into, while Tubbo and Ranboo comfort Sam and hug him until he stops shaking. Puffy rubs Bad's back as Skeppy holds his quivering form.

Bad lifts his head to look at her with pleading eyes, "D- Dream... he died... he died cold and alone... Why was he-?"

Puffy takes in a sharp breath, "I don't know, Bad, I don't know. I- He made a lot of mistakes. Hurt a lot of people."

"But- But he still cared," Bad said, his voice having a bit more power now, his words catching everyone's ear, "His mark on everyone never faded, not even once. Even when Tommy was exiled, Tommy's mark from him was still so bright. Why did... did no one think he cared?"

Sapnap and George glance to each other before looking down at the ground in guilt. Why did they never check his mark? They knew why, they were scared that the friend who loved so much and so violent actually stopped caring. But wouldn't that have been worth the risk? Checking to confirm the truth of Dream's heart rather than assuming the worse and letting their marks on him turn dull? Leaving him cold and alone as, slowly, the many marks on his body fade to grey?

* * *

Techno, Tommy, and Phil arrive at the community portal two hours after Dream died. There, they're greeted by the rest of the grieving server. Phil shares a hug with Puffy, knowing too well the pain of losing a son. Tubbo and Tommy cling onto each other, grieving the loss of a brother. Techno places a firm hand on George and Sapnap's shoulders, doing his best.

Everyone helps to set up the community house for a server-wide sleepover. This was Dream's first home on his SMP, it's been too long since it's been used as anyone's home. So they all decided to make it home for at least today. If only to honour Dream and the happy memories they had with him.

George and Sapnap happily reminisce about the many playful fights between the Dream Team in this house, the many small arguments over how to build it. Tommy adds in a few of his own as he talks about his first few days on the server and the chaos he brought. Slowly, the conversation turns from memories of and in the community house to memories of Dream in general.

Techno talks of how he doesn't know if Dream even has a house, teasing him about being homeless and Dream building a shitty dirt house, knowing Techno was watching and bringing Creepers in to destroy it.

"Does Dream even have a house? He said he had one really far away but it sounded kinda fake," Techno asks once he finishes his story.

"He does," Punz replies, causing some eyes to turn to him, "He built it deep inside a mountain with no clear entrance from the outside. I've never seen it, but considering the amount of stuff he had, I know it has to be real. He tamed a cat once, when we were out, and took it to his house. Don't know where it is or where that poor cat is now. But it's out there."

* * *

Just when sleep was about to creep up on everyone, Glatt walks in, looking paler than normal despite being a ghost.

"Schlatt?"

"Ghostbur and I found someone on our way here. Bring him in Ghostbur."

With that, Ghostbur walks in, gently dragging in a sheep hybrid with frostbite and scars over his body.

"Dream?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here's the exact fic and chapter that this is bouncing off of!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28412208/chapters/69620853#workskin)


	2. Winged Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Xali_Ali's Winged!Dream AU Chapter on their second request work. This is before the second chapter of that on their thing came out
> 
> Phil is Dream's Bio-Dad w/ the Sleepy Bois being Phil's adopted sons. Dream was taken away from his parents and something happened that made them forget him

No one else knew about Dream's wings outside of four souls.

Bad and Sam, who were like older brothers and father figures to him (especially after he lost his real one due to a damned glitch), and they've known him for so long that they were going to find out eventually. Besides, neither of them were exactly fully human, so they would notice it quicker than George and Sapnap. But the last time they saw his wings was when he was still a scrawny teen, before his growth spurt that made him taller than Bad.

Punz, another man who was like a brother to the Admin, but he was also the only one who remained loyal to him as everyone's trust in him started to waver. When they were caught in the rain far away from their bases, he brought out his wing to shield Punz from the rain. Punz said nothing about it, except a quiet whisper that he should shield himself as well. If Punz sees Dream around his base with his wings out, he doesn't say a thing. He doesn't comment on them looking eerily similar to Philza's.

Puffy found out because he told her. She found him during a moment of weakness, a moment when he was vulnerable and hurting. He knew that he had to tell her something, explain why he was watching the family, why he had wings, and why he was crying, but the minute he started he couldn't stop. He's been holding this information close to his damaged heart and broken soul for years, and suddenly bringing it out made his emotions overflow. After that, she knew more than Punz, Bad, and Sam combined because he never talked about having a family to anyone on the server.

He didn't trust George and Sapnap with this information, despite knowing them for as long as he's known Bad and Sam. Well, not that he didn't trust them, he did with his heart and soul and more, but more so he was scared and didn't know how to tell them. He knew that if he told them, he would eventually crack and tell them everything. He didn't want to place that much of a burden on their shoulders. Especially since by the time he was actually considering on telling them, they met Phil and his _sons_ (was he that replaceable?).

* * *

When Phil first joined the server, one of the rules was no Elytra's, which included Phil's wings. He was fine with that, he and Kristen could mask their wings as either capes or tattoos on their backs. But he would need to stretch them out every so often, which shouldn't violate any rules unless his sons (mainly Tommy since Ghostbur can somewhat float and hover now) demanded a flight in his arms.

That's why he only ever had his wings out when working on things in the nether, since most everyone built things in the overworld, leaving the nether a relative mess in the wake of the passing players. Outside of the nice area for the portal, the area outside of it looked scuff, weird since this server was made to explore the 1.16 update.

Just after finishing on fixing up the local blaze spawner, he stepped out of the fortress and stretched his wings as far as he could, releasing some of the tension that's been building up in them over the past few months on the server.

He pauses, before whipping his head to the side, sword in hand and ready to kill, only to be met with the server's Admin.

"Am I not allowed to stretch my wings?"

"No, you are. You're allowed to fly with them too, as long as you don't get caught by anyone other than me and you fly to places you've already been too rather than scout out new areas." He can hear the smirk on Dream's face as he says that. Cheeky.

"Then I suppose you have no problem with me flying back to the main portal?"

"No, just don't get caught and try not to get hurt."

With that, the two part-ways.

* * *

Phil makes it a point to fly over the main territories of the SMP on nights when everyone else is asleep.

Sometimes he swears he spots another flier in the distance, fluffy but strong wings circling around the server like a hawk. Sometimes, he would see the other flier slowly fall from the sky, wings curled around themselves before snapping open moments before crashing as they soar either through the land or back up into the sky.

When Kristen comes to visit, he manages to catch Dream and ask if the rules on wings that applies to him applies to her as well. Dream gives them a free fly pass for every time she visits, as long as they don't abuse it they'll be fine.

Despite the pass, Phil insists on flying at night so he can show her the mystery birdy amongst the server's mix of players. They sky dance under the moonlight as they wait for their little birdy (why was that nickname so familiar to them?) to appear. And appear they do, the flier seems to be taking a different path tonight, hovering over SMP and Badland territory only, keeping a lot of distance between themselves and L'manburg.

The couple follows the birdy, pausing when it seems that they've disappeared. Phil points up to the sky, where their mystery bird is descending with sliver wings wrapped around them. Kristen grips her husband's arm with a vice grip as her heart drops to her stomach.

"Relax, they always do this." He remembers the first time he saw the mystery flier reach so high up that their wings visibly frosted before they fell. Phil had never flown so fast as he did in that moment to catch them before they disappeared into the trees, when he went down on foot to investigate, he found only a couple of ruffled and broken branches around where they might've landed. No body, no signs of blood, not even a single feather. He was worried sick for the rest of the day after till he saw them again that night, up and flying.

Eventually, their birdy descends, wings almost fully frosted over. Kristen grips his arm with an iron grip, nails sinking in like claws. Phil feels the usual anxiety he does from watching them, fearfully wondering if this is the time they'll fail and crash and break their wings. He doesn't know why, even months after watching this strange do this, does he still fear for his safety. A part of him desperately wanting to get closer to them to make sure he's there to catch them, even though he knows well enough that they're going to be fine. This will be like all the other times they've fallen from heights too high-

**Splash!**

Kristen is first to react before he does, dashing forward towards the ocean where their birdy crashed and dives into the water, with Phil following a moment later.

Several minutes, the longest minutes in their lives, later they drag the mystery birdy out of the water. Clad in full, well fitted black. A specialized mask over their mouth, a pair of flight goggles over their eyes, and a hood over their head. Their birdy doesn't want to be recognized, that's fine. That doesn't stop the couple from fussing over their birdy until they wake up and snap away from them.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. We're not here to hurt you," Kristen says, her tone extremely gentle and soft, "Are you okay?"

The flier nods, before hastily standing up on shaky legs, only to fall back down, only this time with Phil to catch them.

"You took quite the fall there, take a few minutes to recover," He says it as gently as Kristen, but the gaze in his eyes are worried but firm. Less of a suggestion and more of a gentle order.

Their little birdy shuffles away from them, but after several minutes of them violently shivering from the soaked clothes and frosted wings, the couple shares a look and move to sit beside the birdy and wrap their wings around them. Careful not to touch until their birdy leans into Phil's open arms and collapses.

The three fall asleep at Logstedshire's shores, the couple holding their little birdy, the scene feeling something so painstakingly familiar while also feeling like a far off and distant dream.

* * *

Dream almost wants to cry when he woke in the embrace of his parents. He so desperately wants to stay, let them find out who he is and maybe remember him (is he that memorable when he was so easily replaced?). But he knows he can't. Kristen hates him for what his server's done to her sons (the sons she choose to have and not this lost, broken birdy). Phil hates him too, most likely, considering he's the cause of one of his son's being dead.

So, Dream slips away, immediately missing their warmth before he takes off and heads to Punz' base to get changed. His own base too far out for him to come back to the SMP before everyone's awake and busy and causing chaos.


	3. Soulmarks 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically detailing of what the marks look like and stuff, since mine differs from Xali_Ali's version in that way
> 
> Never mind I got carried away and now we have this
> 
> I'm a big supporter of the Dreamon theory because that's the only way I can be a Dream Apologist in the SMP without too many hoops to jump through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **TW:** Implied Character Death, Actually Mentioned Character Death, Angst

The mark Dream leaves on those he loves, in any form, is that stupid little smiley face mask he wears. George leaves his goggles with a cornflower wrapped around one of the handles. Sapnap leaves an orange ember with his headband hovering atop it like a halo. Speaking of halos, Bad gives a blueberry muffin with a halo atop as the mark he leaves.

Wilbur leaves a guitar, with his iconic beanie hanging off the handle. Tommy leaves two discs and a red bandana. Philza leaves grey wings with hardcore hearts on them. Techno leaves a bleeding blade piercing through his crown. Tubbo leaves a green bandana between a Poppy Moobloom and a Bee.

Eret leaves his shades leaning on her golden crown, with an array of rainbow gemstones on it. Ranboo leaves a black ender eye with a white ghast tear in its centre, surrounded by the faint shape of a golden crown. Niki leaves dandelions surrounding a vanilla cupcake. Puffy, her captain's hat with a rainbow feather on its brim.

Fundy, a fox with Fundy's iconic hat. Antfrost, a cat paw surrounded by gentle snowflakes. Quackity, duck wings, with his blue beanie hanging off one of them. Sam's creeper mask, surrounded by dots of redstone. Punz' golden chain necklace hanging off a bright diamond sword. Schlatt's horns.

* * *

Dream's mark was on everyone in his SMP, because this land was his first and foremost. It was his and his closest and oldest friends' lands before it became the broken, separated thing it was today. All he wanted was a place to call his own and a place to share with his friends. Every person he invited to stay in his land were people close to his heart in some way, it was another reason why this land is called the Dream SMP. Because everyone who resides within it had Dream's mark on their person.

George, Bad, and Sapnap had Dream's mark over their hearts. Punz had it on his left forearm. On Sam's right, just above his shoulder blade. The left side of Ant's neck, just below his jaw. Tommy's left ankle. Techno's nape. Phil's left shoulder. Quackity's left side, over his hip. Behind Puffy's left ear. The top of Niki's spine. Tubbo's right ankle. Ranboo, Eret, and Wilbur's chests. The middle of Schlatt's back.

Meanwhile Dream had the marks of others on parts of him that would carry them with him. Sapnap, George, and Bad's marks resided over his heart, surrounding them in a protective sort of circle, he carries them over his heart. Ant, Punz, and Sam's marks were in a similar formation over his right breast. Tommy and Tubbo's marks are on his right and left ankles respectively. Techno's mark is on his right palm, with him through every battle and fight after their team up at MCC. Phil's mark is at the top of his spine. Quackity's on his stomach. Puffy's mark is behind his right ear. Niki's mar is in the centre of his back. Ranboo's mark's on his left wrist. Eret's, behind his left ear. Wilbur's on his left forearm. Fundy's mark is on his lower nape.

* * *

Dream's mark was on everyone on his SMP. He knew when their mark appeared on him, some in more detail than others.

He left his mark on Techno the night after their duel, when they hung out in one of their rooms with take out, too tired to go get dressed and go out after all that fighting. Bodies still aching and recovering from still too fresh wounds. Techno kept playing with his uneven freshly cut hair until Dream offered to even it out with scissors (he had to specify due to the look Techno was giving him), it turned out surprisingly well by Techno's standards. Before the two parted for the night, Techno handed Dream back his now-repaired mask. That was when Techno gasped and touched his nape, feeling a new mark form on his skin. Dream blushed, before swiftly putting his mask back on and bidding the other goodnight.  
Techno's mark on him appeared after a tournament that teamed them up. It was after Dream shot the winning shot that he felt his right palm tingle, he didn't realize until after his team had parted and Dream was celebrating with his team while Techno celebrated with his family nearby did he notice the new mark on his palm. He immediately laughed and wheezed at the new mark, purely because it suddenly made the phrase "blood for the blood god" make sense now. Techno and his family looked at him weirdly before Techno's face dropped and he showed them the new mark on his palm.

Fundy's mark appeared sometime before Dream accepted his dinner and movie date, it was actually the final factor that made Dream cave. Dream showed Fundy the mark when they were cuddled up while watching the movie. Fundy had turned a beet red and stayed that way for a good portion of the movie. Dream's mark on Fundy appeared, Dream would say, when Fundy showed off what his newest creation was, he's not sure which one but it was one of them and it was ages before their movie night.

His older friends' marks appeared long before the SMP, while the others' marks appeared sometime before or after the SMP's creation. In Techno's case, it was after the SMP's creation but long before he joined, which applied to a few others as well. Like Puffy and Schlatt, who have always had his mark and he's always had theirs.

His parents' marks have always been there, bright and true, only dulling a bit, but only enough for him to excuse it on the fact of distance. Schlatt was a distance and busy business man, while Puffy was an adventurer. After Tubbo was born, they both set off on their own paths. Leaving Tubbo to be adopted (the fact that their father left him in a box at the side of the road made Dream's blood boil when he found out, but he's since made peace with that upon learning that Phil found him not even a day later), and Dream to fend for himself (he was surprisingly skilled for his age, fast and nimble, but also smart and tactful. Not long after they left him, he met Bad who practically adopted him as a little brother). He was barely 10 when he met the people who's marks would be over his heart and chest, the marks who's people meant the most to him in the world.

* * *

Many of the marks that decorated his skin appeared slowly throughout the time he knew them, during a time before the wars broke out in full, before friendships were being challenged and shattered, before everyone's marks on each other started to waver and dull like dying embers.

It started after the election. When Schlatt's mark on his eldest truly started to dull, that was when Dream swore himself to aiding Pogtopia, until the mark flickered back to be a tiny bit brighter and he was lured into Schlatt's trap. Thankfully he was smart enough— sly and cunning enough, a trait from father dearest he seems to have inherited— to not let the possibility of that man's love be the only thing to make him side with Manburg.  
During the Battle of the Lake, Dream's mark with Sapnap and Bad wavered slightly, before going back to normal after the fight. It made him pause, when the marks over his heart flicker and burn for a second. A second that lasted too long in his mind, a second that replayed in his head over and over until he met up with Sapnap and Bad afterwards to try and talk to ease his worries.  
When he dethroned Eret, he felt the rainbow studded crown on his skin quiver. Niki's flowers and cupcake also shuddered. A cold tightness filling his chest, squeezing the air out of his lungs.  
When he offered to give Wilbur TNT, the mark on his right ankle stung with a piercing sharp pain. While Wilbur's mark on his arm felt like it was burning. He knew when Wilbur started to go mad the moment the marks he left on people started flickering like a dying flame before roaring back like a raging wildfire, fading and dying on moment, before burning everything in its path the next.  
When he encouraged Techno and his Withers and the destruction and chaos they brought. The people who stood with him, their marks turned ice cold with fear and hints of betrayal. The L'manburgians, their marks on him were either burning him like a blaze or making him ache like a wither. The pain only amplified by the stabbing ache in his chest from Wilbur's death at the hands of his own father, plus the crushing pain in his heart from his own father's death. How he managed to stand so strong and unwavering after that was a miracle, maybe that's why he slept for three days straight after that day.

Once he awoke from that mini-coma, it only got worse. Despite some of the marks regressing back to their vibrant colours, with a few new marks being added with the new server members, the marks of those closest to his heart (literally and figuratively) were fading fast.  
Bad and Ant's marks started to waver when that Egg thing appeared, it was as if the colour was being sucked out, leaving him feeling hallow when he touched the marks on his chest.  
Sam's mark started to flicker and fade when he commissioned the prison and paid him a concerning amount of diamonds for its construction.  
George and Sapnap's marks quickly dulled once they heard of what Dream said at the walls, but the colour was already dulling after George was dethroned. The marks over his heart grew cold. Growing colder at his words at the wall. Leaving his heart shivering and hallow.  
Tommy's mark on him flickered frantically during his exile before dulling out completely, not that Dream could blame him (his Dreamon has had a lot more control recently. He hates it).  
Techno and Phil's marks started to fade sometime after Tommy's did, not to hard to figure out why. Though, Techno's mark did beat a bit warmer after he helped him save Carl.  
Tubbo, Fundy, and Ranboo's marks have been flickering frantically, not sure how to feel about him after all he's ~~his Dreamon's~~ done.  
Eret and Niki's marks flicker every now and then. Every time they hear what happened to the others and what part Dream played in it, their marks on his skin shift quickly from ice cold to scalding hot.

Puffy's mark was in a similar state to Bad and Ant's, distant and distracted but still warm to the touch. The only comfort he had in the wake of burning cold marks and the hallow ache in his chest.

* * *

Dreamons didn't leave marks, nor did they get them. Dreamons can be seen as many things. Primordial powers with no real moral code except to do as they please. A manifestation of a server's pain and suffering. A creature removed from its vessel, something evil and something that must be exorcised for the safety of the group and the vessel.

Dream doesn't know what his Dreamon is, exactly. It liked what made Dream happy, but the minute the statues quo that made Dream happy is disrupted, it lashed out.

Tommy and Wilbur 'threaten' to destroy the 'big happy family' image Dream had for the server? The Dreamon plants TNT under their nation, but it's Dream who lights it, with the Dreamon whispering over his shoulder, telling him that this was the right thing to do, to get them back.  
It's the Dreamon who toys and breaks Tommy, only letting Dream out to comfort the boy because it makes it easier for the Dreamon to manipulate him. Dream knows it was playing into the Dreamon's hands, but he couldn't stand to see Tommy so depressed.  
It's both of them who commission the prison. The Dreamon to lock up all those who oppose it, but Dream to lock him and the Dreamon up to protect the server. He knows that won't be the case, but he can hope to at least try.  
It's Dream who gives Techno a map to access Totems of Undying, but it was the Dreamon who made it so it was a debt to be owed. It was Dream who freed Carl and gave Techno that gear and pickaxe, but the Dreamon only allowed it to stay on the Blade's good side. It doesn't like Techno for some reason, maybe because he's the only one that could best Dream in a duel.  
The Dreamon cares not for the pain the dulling marks brings its vessel, but their fading only makes it stronger. Love is a Dreamon's biggested and greatest weakness, rip that away and a Dreamon can run rampant with little issue.

That is until the Vessel decides, in a now-rare moment of clarity, to put all his gear and armour in a chest in the centre of L'manburg for all to see in the dead of night. Before wondering off into the freezing Taiga and let the mobs get him. He equipped nothing but two full arm bracelets made of only the purest of gold on his arms. The Dreamon awakens to keep its vessel alive, but only enough to bring him to a cave as a blizzard starts to rage on outside.

The Dreamon's insults fall on deaf ears, not heard due to the golden earrings its vessel wears to block out its voice. The gold bracelets on his arms that he uses to hold himself effectively trap the Dreamon within its Vessel.

Gold can only hold a Dreamon for so long, but long enough for Dream to get rid of it once and for all. As a safety precaution— actually, it was more of a final comfort to himself— his fingers graze over his mother's mark, letting warmth seep into his aching and cold heart. Calming the thrashing Dreamon within him until he fades.


	4. Winged Dream 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A peak in the mechanics and also Dreamons because shit man, that's the only way I can be an SMP!C!Dream Apologist without jumping through too many hoops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **TW:** Implied or I Think Actually Emotional Manipulation, Mentioned Injury, Clipped Wings. Implied Abuse(?)

Dream was four when he first flew, well, it was more glide than fly, but he remembers his parents counted it as his first flight. Regardless of his wings, he's always been one to climb things and jump from there to other things.

He climbed up the cabinet holding his parents' fine china when he leapt off and aimed for the coffee couch across the room. His father was editing at the breakfast nook attached to the living room, while his mother was baking them cookies because he had quite the sweet tooth as a kid (he still does, its just that when he indulges in them he can't help but be reminded of lazy days with his parents. Trying to help his mom decorate cupcake with his chubby little five year old hands, dad's hair covered with the weird circle sprinkles him and mom didn't like but dad really did. His heart ached at those memories, so he avoids remembering them as often as he could).

He remembers jumping off, the rest is a blur but he landed on the table next to the couch, farther away then what he was aiming for. His parents were pale and scared before they held him, scolding him for jumping so high up and how did he get there? Why did you climb up there Clay? Before they realized he _glided_ and they celebrated.

The first time he _actually_ flew was when he was seven. He climbed up the lemon tree in the backyard while mom and dad were doing the dishes. Once he got up he heard his mother scream at him before the dishes were almost-haphazardly dropped as his parents rushed outside. He jumped off the tree a few seconds before they got out the door. He closed his eyes, scared to see the ground below him get closer and closer as he fell, but his wings had other plans.

He never felt the wind rush past him from his fall or one of his parents rushing in to catch him. He slowly removed his hands from over his eyes to meet the still pale but proudly stunned faces of his parents. He released a shaky wheeze as the fear left his system— or rather as it sunk in as his wings stopped moving and for him to land in his parents' arms. His flight lessons started not long after that, despite the fluff of his wings from mom, his wings carried speed as great as— maybe even greater than— his father's. By the time he was nine, his parents had no qualms with him haphazardly parkouring off of things, since they knew he could easily fly to prevent the fall.

Even years after the Admins took him, he never stopped falling from heights greater than him. He would fly as high as his wings could take him at the time and let himself fall, only to catch himself at the last minute and let the wind almost cut through his skin and feathers, the thrill was exhilarating. He would later find the same thrill by going on PVP servers, and much later during Manhunts with his friends. He could only experience the thrill of falling again during his flights on the SMP after everyone started to separate and get their own house, when the community house was no longer where anyone slept and became nothing more than a random building to pass through to get to other parts of the SMP.

* * *

After the Admins took him, they clipped his wings. Not enough to hurt him and prevent him from flying ever again, but enough to prevent him from flying for a long time for them to train out the instinct to fly etched into his bones.

The first time he realized how engrained using his wings was in his system was sometime after he met and befriended Bad. They were just talking as they walked through the forest, with Dream leaping through the trees, before messing up a jump and hitting the ground, _hard._ He rolled his ankle and scrapped his knees and palms. Bad fretted over him for weeks after that. He asked Dream if he knew how to land from falling as far as he did, he said no and Bad got a couple of his older friends to help train him to land without severely injuring himself.

During the lessons, he realized how his body would ready for his wings to take action, so not only did he have to learn a new set of muscle memory when falling, he had to unlearn the muscle memory of his wings that he could no longer use or show to people. It felt like he was forgetting his parents when he hard to learn how to fall without his wings.

After those lessons, he became really got at parkour, besting even those who taught him. It made Bad glow with pride, he wondered if his parents would look at him like that upon finding out how good he's gotten. He stuffed that thought aside the minute it appeared and sent a painful arrow through his heart.

On nights when the whole SMP was asleep and no one would be looking for him, he still parkoured without using his wings most of the time. Almost like he forgot he had them there and out. Instead of flying over that hoard of zombies to get off the tree, he would jump and roll into them and fight his way out, only remembering after he's escaped that he could've just flown. After too many nights like that, he spent those nights purely flying and using his wings as much as possible, so the muscles stay strong, despite never using them outside of those moments alone.

After Punz and later Puffy found out, he would use his wings around them, but only if he was sure no one else would be able to see. When Punz and Puffy were setting up Holiday Decor, they asked Dream to place somethings really high up. Neither of them mentioned it when Dream hesitantly brought his wings out and flew up to place the fairy lights and place the star topper. Puffy gave him a soft smile while Punz acted as if nothing was different but Dream could see the small smile quirking onto his face when the man looked away to grab more lights for Dream to place.

* * *

Bad and Sam knew about his wings, but he showed them when his wings were still clipped and he didn't know at the time if his wings would ever recover. As far as Dream knows, Bad and Sam forgot about his wings, or at least think he can't use them anymore.

The wings made a lot of his little habits make more sense to Bad, the recklessness when falling and the lack of a proper, safe landing response. For Sam, it made the random feathers he would sometimes find on Dream make sense, because Dream didn't have a pet bird.

They both found out after Dream had finished his parkour training, Dream had foolishly gone out one night and it just so happen to be a night when a lot of mobs were spawning. Bad and Sam found him littered with injuries, using his clipped wings to try and shield and hide himself from the mobs. They tried to touch his wings when patching him up, but after he violently flinched away from them they didn't try again. They didn't ask, but they did gently pour some regen and instant health on his wings to help them heal from the injuries they sustained from shielding him.

Dream never told them, and they never asked. He's one part grateful and one part resentful for that fact.

* * *

He didn't know why his emotions controlled him so violently when it came to his SMP, he knew why with his father, but with the SMP? He didn't know. Not until Tubbo and Fundy mentioned something called "Dreamons."

Then Dream started digging. They got the name wrong, Daemons was the right word. They were like the little angel over people's shoulders, except stronger, real, and the kind to push people to their darkest impulses. Daemons are parasites. Destroying their vessel/host to their own benefit.

His Daemon would push him to a violent response, would push him to use and release his repressed sadness and convert it into anger. It would twist the scenes before him to make him upset. Honey sweet words filled with acidic venom, turning the happy picnic his parents were having with their ~~new~~ sons into them replacing him. Look how happy they are with their family, _without you,_ with their sons, _not you._ Look at how mom decorates cupcakes with Niki like how she once did with you. Look at how dad and Techno spar. How mom and dad intently listen to Tommy and Tubbo's stories. All of that, _without you._

It would push the right buttons to make him hate his friends ~~and adopted brothers.~~ He loved and cared for them as friends before the voices in his head twisted their actions against him.

Dream could see pieces of himself in his ~~adopted brothers~~ replacements.

He shared the same open heart and passionate soul as Tommy, if it wasn't for his mask— something he had to protect his heart but also a habit forced into him by the Admins— he would be just as expressive as the server's little firecracker. It was why the boy was so easily weaved into a threat by his Daemon. He knows how to weaponize that fiery passion and determination, how to turn that spark into a raging wildfire. But Tommy's heart just isn't built to do that, but he still fears the _what if Tommy's pushed over the edge enough to become the blazing, all consuming inferno he can be?_

Wilbur's silver tongue and creative thinking were another similarity he shared with the ~~his~~ brothers. He knows his away around people, knows how to get his way through people who are trying to take advantage of him and his friends. But he's always been more of a fighter, so his natural charm hasn't been honed as much as Wilbur's. Who's words were as smooth and warm as honey, but when he was spiralling into insanity, the words were thicker, and filled with bitter acid. Wilbur had a Daemon. When the little fucker got on Wilbur is a mystery, but it was urging Wilbur's insanity. Two men with Daemons encouraging and manipulating them to do their worse is not a pretty combination, if the crater that was Manburg was any sign.

Technoblade, not much needs to be said that isn't already known. They're both skilled combatants, hypercompetitive, fast but smart thinkers, and not-fully human. Techno's interaction with Phil and Kristen ~~his parents~~ hurt a bit more than the other's.

When he looks at them interact with their adopted sons, he can see when and where it could be him. Wilbur was the first son they took in after they lost and promptly forgot him. Techno is the son most similar to him. But Tommy is at close enough of an age to when he was still desperately longing for his parents' embrace ~~he still does, but he's an adult now. He shouldn't need his parents to tuck him in goodnight and kiss his head.~~

Wilbur was lucky, in a cruel sense, that he died after blowing up Manburg. He didn't have to deal with his Daemon's manipulation and growing control and grip on his mind and body. But that Daemon gave its strength to Dream's little parasite. After that, Tommy accidentally grieving George's house when he failed to rob him was twisted into a personal attack and flex of power. Using Spirit's corpse against him, though, was a personal attack and it only gave his Daemon more control over him. It quickly used Dream's rage to fuel itself and give it the reigns for his speech at the walls.

His behaviour during Tommy's exile was fueled by the aching sadness of watching his father, from a distance, interact with his three sons. His Daemon was smart enough to know not to mess with Techno, so it aimed for the 'weak' link in Tommy.

* * *

His Daemon was very selective of when it whispered to him and controlled him. Almost like it had two modes. It would only control him if letting go of that control would ruin all the hard work it's done to ruin everyone's lives. It had a firm hand on his shoulder during Tommy's exile, most of the time fully controlling him. When his friendship with the Dream Team fell apart, the Daemon only watched and tried to _comfort_ him. As if it wasn't the cause of him losing his closest and dearest friends!

The only times he was sure the Daemon wouldn't even try to control him or whisper him to do his worse, was when he was flying and when he was around his parents.

One day, when he decided to take a day away from the SMP and went off flying, he decided to read up on Daemons more and that's when he discovered one of their weaknesses to be love.

No wonder a Daemon attached itself to him. He so desperately craved it but having it also hurt so much that he naturally distanced himself. No wonder his Daemon was silent around his dad, and when he was flying through the skies. Love weakens it, the stronger the love, the weaker it gets. No wonder it's pushed the Dream Team apart, because his love for his friends was threatening its mere existence.

Not that it mattered in the long run, the Admins that trained, ruined, damaged, and broke him would also be the people to get rid of the parasite that's ruining their caged little birdy. He just needed to get away from the SMP after they all turned on him, which shouldn't be hard after he knocked them out with those custom potions.

(Techno finding out about his blood relation to Phil might make them act more urgently, but that won't be enough to catch him. His wings can carry him to places faster than Phil can ever hope to catch up to. Even with speed potions)


	5. Blind!Dream Continuation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Xali_Ali's Blind!Dream AU in their first Dream-Centric One-Shot collection, continuation of how that ended

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This one's from this one-shot collection Xali_Ali made](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27581522/chapters/67470479#workskin)
> 
> **TW:** Mild Blood, Mild Injuries, Implied Major Injury

The arena was stunned into silence as the two fighters ran out, before erupting into shouts. Some in utter disbelief that someone _blind_ could be such a skilled fighter. Some shouting that Techno wins by default since Dream ran away. Some hate on Techno for breaking Dream's mask and exposing him like that. Others hating on both parties, calling Dream weak for his lack of sight— despite the clear and strong evidence that happened before them that that wasn't and is far from the case— and calling Techno pathetic for fighting a blind man.

It made their friends' blood boil. Tommy and Sapnap are quick to defend their friends and are first to start physically fighting people. The other members of the SMP slowly joining along in either trying to hold them back or joining them once provoked enough. Hbomb is particularly protective, while Bad is surprisingly aggressive. Letting a few curses slip, effectively silencing and shutting down large portions of the crowd, at least the portion that are Dream's 'fans.'

Mr. Beast and his crew get the guards and staff to block off the paths Dream and Techno ran through, as well as block out several more paths to throw off the people crazy enough to chase them.

* * *

Technoblade finds Dream curled in on himself on the rafters of a lone building at the edge of the town their duel was set in. He doesn't make his steps silent, but he does make sure they're not loud enough to startle. He climbs up the rafters until he's sitting next to Dream, who's silently sobbing into his knees.

He places an awkward but hopefully comforting hand on Dream's back and tries comfort him. Eventually, he leans his head on Dream's shoulder and gently places his hand over Dream's and rubs soft circles over his knuckles.

At some point, when Dream's sobbing subsided and Techno's anxiety calmed down enough, he apologized for breaking his mask and exposing him like this. Dream shakes his head, before leaning in to hug Techno, passing out in his arms a moment or so later.

* * *

Hours later, after the audience was calmed down, many of which were forcefully escorted out due to fighting the SMP's members before the SMP's members were escorted out as well.

Niki's knuckles are bloodied, but its not her blood at least. Sapnap holds his broken noise, Tommy holds an ice pack to his bruised cheek, and Bad has a black eye, a bloody noise, and a bandage on his cheek. Everyone collectively bares an array of other more minor cuts and bruises. George's goggles are slightly cracked, Wilbur and Quackity's beanies are torn and covered in a bit of blood, Punz' golden chain necklace is dented, same with Eret's crown with her sunglasses being askew, and Ant's claws are out and lightly caked in blood.

The SMP members all shuffled back to the hotel they were all staying in, same floor as Techno and Dream, though the two combatants got bigger suits for obvious reasons. The two shared it with their friends anyways.

Most of them head into Techno's room, while a few others head into Dream and their other rooms to get some more pillows and blankets, planning on sleeping in that room after that disastrous end to the supposed duel of the decade.

It seemed Techno had a similar idea and had a bunch of pillows and blankets spread on his suit's living room area, Dream curled up in a little burrito next to Techno, who's reading a book when they enter.

* * *

Dream wasn't always blind, but considering that he's spent over half of his life blind, his memories of before that are both blurry and terrifyingly sharp.

He lost his sight during a monster attack on his home town. No one knew the cause of the large hoards of various monsters coming in to destroy their homes and slaughter their people, some whisper it to be the same reason the Castle Kingdom fell, with many citizens either dead or having fled their home. With their beloved King presumed dead with no body, the Queen buried at her beloved flower hill next to her beloved Kingdom, and their son an orphan, living in a quiet, small desert village.

Dream cares not for the cause of the attack, despite knowing so much about it, all he cares about is what happened. A creeper blew up his sister and brother's rooms, letting a swarm of spiders crawl in to start attacking. Him and his older sister rushed in to grab their siblings as their parents fought off the mobs.

He remembers the flames consuming the town as people ran left and right to get away from the monsters chasing them. The town's fighters and guards were all overwhelmed. Spiders were webbing up people who hid in corners they thought were safe. Skeletons were shooting down those that ran. Creepers blew up buildings that weren't already in shambles. Zombies came in to claim those as good as dead, sealing the deal.

Then the Endermen came, screeching so loudly despite how far they were from people. One teleported in front of him and his sister, both of them immediately averted their gaze to the floor and held their little siblings just a bit tighter.

"Dream, I need you to take them both to safety," His older sister whispered to him, "I'll handle the Endermen."

"No, I can't carry them both, and I'm the faster between the two of us. You take them to safety, I'll catch up, I promise." He was so young then, his body not yet at the right stage to build up the appropriate muscle to become the honed fighter he is today. But he was fast, that's always been a constant. His sister was older, taller, and much more used to carrying both their baby siblings than he was.

She had sighed heavily, but knew not to try and argue with him as he handed her their brother.

The Endermen stalked closer as his sister slowly backed up, but then Drista lifted her head from her shoulder and locked eyes with the Endermen. Who then charged for them with a piercing screech.

Dream remembers leaping in to take the hit, his eyes stinging and vision black. Before his consciousness faded, the last thing he heard was the piercing screech of an Endermen mix in with the dying cries of his siblings.

Who knew Endermen could claw your eyes blind?

* * *

Dream awoke after that fateful night in the city, screaming and afraid, desperately calling for his mom, dad, sister, _anyone._

He was to be sent to live with one of the families that survived the massacre of their town once he was deemed healed enough. He knew the family he was living with, they were close friends with his mom. They had lost a son around his age during the attack. They both knew that they were trying to fill the void left by their dead family with the other, it didn't help that Dream was still getting the hang of not having his eye sight anymore.

At some point, he had bought his iconic mask. When his host family asked, he told them he hated how people would talk about him when they think he wasn't listening. The family's young son drew on the iconic smile of his mask, so it wasn't so blank and 'scary' as he described it.

At some point, he had learned how to move and parkour and fight without ever actually seeing. The people that knew he was blind that he sparred with were so shocked that he learned how to fight so well despite his disability. He was proud of himself for proving them wrong. He was more capable than any of them ever gave him credit for, and is some of them forgot he was blind because he was so capable, then he's doing something right.

He learned how to 'see' in a similar way as that one blind girl in those story books he would stay up late reading when he was younger. She was blind, but terrifyingly capable. She could 'see' through the vibrations in the ground. Dream attempted to do something similar, but not having shoes on was not fun. So he learned how to sense things through sound like a bat, and through the extremely subtle shifts in the air.

At some point, he meets Bad, he meets Sapnap, he meets Sam, Punz, Ant, George, and then he finds fame and starts his own little SMP. He finds the hole left in his heart of the fateful day he lost his eyesight and family be filled with his friends.

Then the duel of the decade is set and planned. A lot of money on the line, though he and Techno are planning to split it to ease the stress on both of their shoulders. They both still stress but its more from the amount of eyes who'll be watching them and the expectations their fans have over what's at stake, because in the end they both win. Fans from one person will get curious and watch the other and so on, both of their fanbases growing.

* * *

Dream wakes up surrounded by warmth, from what he can tell, he seems to be in a sort of cuddle pile on the floor, presumably surrounded by his friends. His panic from earlier as he recalls those events prior to him passing out make it hard for him to know who's in the room with him, the ringing in his ears as loud as an Endermen's dying cry.

He hears snoring that definitely sounds like Sapnap's. Soft purring from Ant, probably cuddle up to Velvet. A soft shuffle of wings, Philza, presumably with his wings surrounding his kids. A furry tail patting against a pillow and rustling someone's hair enough to cause them to grunt, Fundy and Eret. The deep, silent breathing behind his back is definitely Techno. From what he remembers of that hug, him and Techno are very similar in terms of build, maybe with Techno being a bit broader than him. And if Dream's not with his team, then the only person he can think that he's sleeping on is Techno.

Dream shifts, if only to adjust the apparent blanket burrito he's in. Apparently Techno's a light sleeper, because the man starts to wake at Dream's movement.

Dream freezes, body tense, hoping Techno doesn't notice.

"Go back to sleep," Techno slurs quietly, voice surprisingly awake as he loosely wraps an arm around Dream's side, "We'll talk about this tomorrow. None of us think any different of you. But we are concerned and curious about those scars."

"I-" What do you say in a situation like this? Your friends just find out about a scar and disability you've somehow managed to keep hidden from all of them for years during a terrifyingly public duel. What do you do with this reassurance? "I- What- What happened after—?"

"Don't know. After you ran off, I went after you as soon as I got my act together. Mr. Beast and his team cleared out the arena once everyone started reacting to both of us running."

"... I smell blood. Who got hurt?"

He hears Techno hiss under his breath, probably wincing too, "Our friends may or may not have personally fist fought some of the 'fans' that didn't bring their manners to the arena. Nothing major, relax. Everyone still has all their limbs intact. Bad cursed, and Niki broke a _lot_ of people's noses."

Dream quietly wheezes out a laugh, covering his mouth as to not wake his friends, "Actually?"

Techno hums, "Actually."

Dream settles back down to sleep, a soft laugh escaping his lips as Techno settles with him. Tomorrow's going to be one hell of a day, but he'll enjoy the warmth of the family he's found before he has to tell them about the family he lost and the scars over his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Linking the exact thing that inspired this chapter at the bottom too just in case you missed it lol](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27581522/chapters/67470479#workskin)


	6. AroAce Dream Continu- My Take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their take on AroAce!Dream was not much of a flavour I personally vibed with (since I've written another character in another fandom as Aroace) so this is more my take rather than me continuing off from theirs, but I will be using the same sort of set up they used. With having 3 love interests
> 
> Note: All are one-sided romantic attraction  
> Dream/Wilbur, Dream/Technoblade, Dream/George

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited the date to get the most amount of clout lol

Dream is an Asexual Aromantic, though it took him a while to figure out, because love is a strange thing. Love isn't inherently romantic, despite what much of the media has lead people to believe.

Dream can look at someone and think they're attractive in the way one would find a painting or dress attractive. He would get the supposed butterflies in his stomach around his friends, but that's because he loved them as friends and they made him happy, not because of romance. Like how one can get all soft and giddy when watching their pets be adorable, it's adoration, but that emotion isn't inherently romantic.

Dream never found himself to be all that charming or good looking. Yet, he managed to capture the hearts of three of his friends. George, his best friend that he flirted with for fun (huh, that one statistic about jokingly flirting with your friends will eventually turn to real romantic is true in his case, damn). Wilbur, the first one to actually make a move on him (apparently that Pizza Hut date was an actual invite, except not to a Pizza Hut but a really nice restaurant near that Pizza Hut. Dream paid for the bill, he insisted since he was basically the richer of the two). And surprisingly Technoblade, who Dream's gaydar thought was Demisexual, but apparently not.

They all confessed to him on the same night, though none of them knew the other two were also crushing and confessing.  
George has been in love with him for a few years, he's his best friend, and even if Dream doesn't reciprocate his feelings, George is more than happy to stay friends. He even specified that the attraction is alterous, so he'll be okay if Dream wants to leave it as a friendship.  
Wilbur's confession was charming and sweet, he wonders why Wilbur was still single because the man has the looks and charms to easily get a lover. He was polite and respectful and said he would be more than okay with staying friends if Dream wanted to.  
Then there was Techno's confession and god no wonder he and Techno became such close friends, his confession was poetic and beautiful and Dream was practically enthralled by the beauty of it. It took a lot of courage for him to confess and Dream knows that, but it seems Techno also knows to prepare himself for rejection.

Dream could reject them, and break their hearts. And they would still be content with his decision. But... well, he's always been eager to please. It wouldn't hurt to take them on a few dates and then tell them he's aroace, right?

* * *

Wrong.

On his dates with George, he forgot they were dates and didn't act any differently and play-flirted with him. It wasn't until George tried to kiss him did he flinched and before quickly telling him he was aroace and that he loved George like how he loved Sapnap, as a friend.

George was, rightfully, disappointed but not for the reasons Dream thought he would be. He was disappointed that Dream felt the need to take him out on dates to make him feel better about eventually being rejected. That Dream was so willing to get and stay out of his own comfort zone for the sake of his friend. Dream was relieved and gave George a firm hug.

Sapnap was relieved by the results, because if Dream had gone out with George again _he_ was going to tell him (not that Dream's aroace, that's for Dream to tell, but just something to get George off of Dream romantically).

On his dates with Wilbur, _god_ they were nice and charming and so wonderful. He felt so pampered by how nice his dates with Wilbur were. Wilbur was also so respectful that it was going to hurt like a bitch to break his heart. After a date at a carnival, when Wilbur was dropping him off at home, he grabbed his cheek and placed his forehead on Dream's. Leaning in, but stopping with more than enough distance to give Dream the chance to pull away if he wanted.

Dream did with a heavy sigh. He told Wilbur that he's an absolutely wonderful person and whoever will end up as his partner is sure to be treated well, but it can't be him because he's aroace. Wilbur's look of heartbreak quickly shifted into him laughing awkwardly before hugging him. Telling him that he shouldn't have pushed himself to go on dates with him to spare his feelings. What kind of person would he be if he let his crush be afraid to not reciprocate?

Sapnap and George were relieved that it was over, they were also getting tired of all the souvenirs Dream would bring back from those dates. The whale plushies are adorable, Dream, but our cats have gotten trapped between them four times already.

On his dates with Technoblade... something felt off. They had chemistry, just not the romantic kind, at least on Dream's end, Techno's was harder to read. They're rivals and friends. They wrote their story characters to be Lancers to the other, similar methods and madness, but also different at the same time. Him and Techno's dates didn't feel different from the dates he had with George, they didn't even feel like dates at all. They just hung out like they usually do.

Then Techno confided in him his confusion with his sexuality. He thought he was bi or pan and that he had a crush on Dream, but after these dates, it just doesn't feel right. Dream then went on to explain other potential labels that better fit him. He told Techno that he, himself, is an Asexual Aromantic. Meaning he doesn't really feel or do romantic and sexual attraction. He can admire his friend's beauty in the same way he can admire a sunset. He can love people because love doesn't just exist for romance. He tells Techno that he always sort of pinned him for Demi, where one first needs to get to know someone before those feelings appear.  
The difference is that someone can see an objectively hot person walk down the street and feel sexual attraction, and then feel romantic attraction when they watch them shield some kittens from the rain. While a demisexual demiromantic person would need to first know them as a friend or have some sort of connection to them personally before those feelings emerge and are felt.  
He also suggests to Techno that he might be Greysexual, in that he only feels those things very rarely or on a much lower scale than 'normal.' Or maybe Recipsexual, where one only feels those feelings if they know it's reciprocated. He continues suggesting a few more labels until the conversation peters off into something completely unrelated.

The two spent the rest of the night talking quietly about random things. When Dream gets home the next day to George and Sapnap, who rush him with worry thinking that he and Techno had sex or something, he reassures them that Techno knows and is okay with it.

* * *

A year after those dates with his friends and telling them he's aroace, Minecraft Championships decides to do an extra special theme for Pride Month this year, with Pride themed teams. With team names like the Blue Bi Bats and the Ace Aqua Axolotls.

Dream's teamed with Karl, Shubble, and Techno. Scott's really dedicated to the team he's put on with the theme if he's willing to team Techno and Dream together again. It's also the event where both Dream and Techno reveal their sexualities.

Dream's fans are a mixed bag of reactions, but mostly shocked with his aromantic asexuality. While Techno's fans aren't really surprised with his demiromantic demisexuality, some of of the ones in the alphabet mafia did note that a few suspected he was on the spectrum but never sure where.

After their team wins at dodgebolt, with Dream getting a lot of good shots, memes of Dream being the Arrow Ace AroAce are all over twitter for a good two weeks. Some even pointing back to the last MCC Dream and Techno teamed together, with Dream getting the winning shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due note I used the rough textbook definition for things like Greysexual and Recipsexual, but for Demisexual, I've done a lot of research on it prior when I was questioning my own sexuality, while I've heard (read) a lot about people's experiences with Asexuality  
> Your experience might not be the same as the Dream I wrote in this story and that's okay, that doesn't make your experience any less valid and real. It's you label and you decide what that means to you specifically and if it fits you.  
> And if anyone's curious, I'm bi myself (bisexual and single and lonely *double finger guns*)
> 
> Hint on one of the chapters I'm working on: If you managed to read Xali_Ali's now deleted fic Adrenaline Kiss, you know what to expect. But if they say they dont want me to make that chapter then I won't, but I really need to know why it was deleted and I'm too damn awkward to ask
> 
> Also, if any of you have suggestions for this hypothetical Pride MCC's team names feel free to drop them in the comments! Because Blue Bi Bats is the only one that I've thought that instantly came to mind, with Ace Aqua Axolotls coming in when I was writing this!


	7. Plucking My Own Strings: Continuation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Xali_Ali once again!  
> Dream learns of the Butcher Army's plan to assassinate him and decides that if he's going to die, it's going to be on his own damned terms
> 
> Things not included that are in the original version: Puffy & Niki being Dream's moms but were memory blocked of that fact by Dre

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **TW:** Implied (?) Starvation, implied self-harm, implied lack of self-care tbh
> 
> Also! Antis are planning on fabricating an audio of Dream saying the N-word so watch out for that! I'll take this warning down a week after this chapter was posted

Nightmare did many, many terrible things to Dream and those he held close to his heart.

He aided in Wilbur's spiral into insanity and only made the paranoia that cause it worse. He made sure to slip in the right words to destroy Dream's friendship with George and Sapnap. He manipulated Tommy and only let Dream comfort and have fun with the boy only for his own benefit. He kept Dream distant from his other friends as time went on and things got more serious.

Love is a Dreamon's greatest weakness, after all, and he can't have his vessel, who's heart is so big that if physical marks were left on people someone loved, he would've left marks on the whole of his SMP, have people who love him. At least, love him enough to be able to remove Nightmare.

But Dream's always been determined, stubborn, and a bit petty. He managed to do a minor ritual that lowers his lives down to one, even with his Admin statues and the Dreamon within him being built-in roadblocks from Permadeath.

Then the little _brat_ wore gold when he entered the main nether portal, keeping him from taking over. Dream played memories of times filled with laughter and love, further pushing him into the corner.

Building that stupid church with Tommy, Tubbo, and Quackity. Fighting alongside Techno and Tommy. Silently following Puffy around like a lost little duckling.

Nightmare was chained tightly to the corner with the gold, locked in by the love Dream was remembering and longing for.

Everything went dark in a bright blaze as his vessel threw himself, no armour or anything of importance on his person, into the lava hundreds of blocks below.

* * *

_Dream: L'manburg, Butcher Army, whatever you guys call yourselves_

_Dream: I know of your plan to assassinate me at your "friendship" festival_

_Dream: I thought you, of all people, Tubbo wouldn't stoop so low and repeat history so cruelly like this_

_Dream: But I guess if Tommy can use someone's beloved dead pet against them, then you're capable of publicly turning a happy event into an execution_

_Dream: If I'm going to die, I'm dying on my own fucking terms_

_Dream: But before I do, I left a little book for everyone in the Community House, my first and final home on this server_

_Dream: I left one for Techno in his house as well, so Techno, Tommy, Phil, you can read it without needing to go all the way_

_Dream: The only hint I can give you on what the information is in that book and how urgent you should be acting is this:_

_Dream: Tubbo, Fundy, do you remember when you exorcized that Dreamon out of me?_

_Dream: You failed, and I'm so sorry for what's happened and what's going to going to happen_

* * *

Tubbo and Fundy paled the moment Dream mentioned Dreamon, they ran out and rushed to the community house as fast as they could, going even faster the minute they saw Dream's final message. Ranboo and Quackity tailing behind them as fast as they can, shouting questions that neither of the Hunters can answers.

Sapnap, George, and Punz were already walking to the community house after Dream said something about a book. The former two still desperate for an explanation to help explain why their dear friend said he didn't care. Sapnap paled and broke out into a sprint the moment the word 'Dreamon' appeared on chat.

By the time the two groups got there, the Badlanders and the SMP'ers were already there, waiting to read the books with the others.

_I don't know when or how Nightmare got into my head. I knew he was there during the first war, his grip wasn't as strong as it is today. He was more like an intrusive thought than an actual influence. But then Tubbo and Fundy tried and failed to exorcize him and after that he's had so much more control over me._

_He turns my negative emotions, thoughts, everything against me. Uses them like puppet strings to get me to do what he wants. He used my fury over having Spirit's corpse hanged over my head like some cheap bargaining chip to say what I did at the walls. He used my loneliness to push me to complacency while he took control and manipulated Tommy to be another puppet of his. He used the fact that I didn't know his increase in power and control to give Wilbur all that TNT and push his spiralling insanity further._

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry and I love you, Sapnap, George. I'm sorry I couldn't get back enough control to help you, Tommy. I'm sorry, everyone. If you're reading this, then it means that I've found something to motivate me enough to try and break free from Nightmare's control long enough to end it._

_Sam, that prison I asked you to make. It was one part commissioned by Nightmare to store all the 'rebel' groups in the SMP, and one part commissioned by me to lock myself and Nightmare away. The solitary confinement cell was made for me, in the end. Too bad that prison can't be used now._

_I love you guys, remember that, okay? Don't try and find me, but knowing you guys, you're going to try to._

_\- Dream_

* * *

Techno, Phil, Tommy, and Ghostbur, with the book not that hard to find and reach to read, have long since finished reading it and were already rushing to find Dream.

"He wouldn't try in the overworld. The hunters still have those compasses from their manhunt game," Tommy said as Techno and Ghostbur tried to diverge and head for the Logsted portal, "It also wouldn't kill him fast enough."

Meanwhile, in the community house, Tubbo makes a similar argument as urges the people to the nether portal.

"Falling would give Nightmare enough time to take back control and save his vessel. Drowning too. He's not in the overworld, deaths here would be too easy for him to prevent. He's got to be in the one place where it's easy for him to access—"

"—but hard for him to escape dying from if he has nothing."

"The nether," The two boys, thousands of blocks away from each other, say in unison as one climbs up the steps to the main bridge while the other enters the portal to the nether, "Specifically, jumping into the lava below the—"

Everyone freezes as the boys' conclusion come true. All eyes staring at the server's admin, someone everyone saw as nigh untouchable, look so small and fragile. His armour was removed, even his iconic green hoodie was off, leaving his form exposed.

Gold arm bracelets on his arms, wrapping loosely around them. Sapnap and George notice how scrawny he looks, how pale he is, how his usually well-fitting sleeveless black turtleneck hangs loosely on his form. How his hair is so much darker and paler, and from what they can see of his face, his cheeks look pale and boney, eyes sunken with heavy bags.

Dream looks so small and weak, nothing like the strong and clever runner they know. Nothing like the swift and precise fighter Techno fought in the Beast's arena. Nothing like the competitive and calm leader most of them teamed with during the Nox Tournaments. Nothing like the wheezing moron George and Sapnap started the SMP with. Nothing like the warm but burning flame that started the SMP. Nothing like the friend they all knew.

How long has Nightmare been ruining Dream? How many days has he woken up on the rare days when he had control and just not get out of bed? How many sleepless nights had he endured? How many nights alone with no one but his Dreamon to accompany him has he faced? How long has it been since Dream ate a full, warm meal? How long has it been since he's had a goodnight's sleep in a warm and safe place? How long has it been since any of them have heard this stupid tea kettle laugh?

How long have they been seeing Nightmare and not Dream?

* * *

Ghostbur watches the moment everyone unfreezes from their fearful shock. Phil, Puffy, Bad, and Sam take quiet and careful steps towards Dream within his line of sight, as to not startle him.

He notices Tommy tense, desperate to run in and hug Dream or- or _something._ Anything but watch him longingly stare into the lava like how he did months before, before Dream (he knows it was Dream, the harsh shove with hands that were too gentle and afraid to be Nightmare's) pushed him away and blocks off the area.

Those approaching him suddenly stop when they bump into an invisible wall. Barrier blocks. That's when everyone starts shouting and cursing, many rushing to start desperately hacking at the walls separating them from their friend.

Ghostbur simply stands back and watches the scene before him play out. Dream doesn't move as everyone else is furiously trying to get to him, shuffling bit by bit closer to the edge of the bridge he built himself ages ago, when it was just him, George, Sapnap, and a couple of old friends. Before the wars, before the discs, before the ghosts and Dreamons and betrayals.

Dream releases a silent but shuddering sigh, as he looks up to the sky, a faint twinkle of sad hope in his eyes, an empty smile on his lips. He looks back down at the lava, before sparing Ghostbur a brief glance.

He raises his foot to take the final step down, everyone's screams are silent at Dream's final words.

"It was never meant to be."

Ghostbur sharply inhales, suddenly tasting the ash and smoke and gunpowder in his lungs. He's thrown back to a time before he was dead. When a friend betrayed him as they let the enemy take a life from each of them. But then months later, that same friend offering sanctuary for him and his little brother. He's thrown back to a room with writings carved into the walls of the song he wrote himself, a wooden button in front of a chair. He's been there dozens of times, so desperate to press it and end it all.

He remembers making a deal with Dream- no, not Dream, _Nighmare_ a week before the battle to reclaim the nation he founded. No matter what, blow it up. He elects Tommy as the President, the words he said to him weeks prior to that echoing in his head.

_"You're never gonna be President, Tommy."_

He watches Tommy denounce his Presidency, knowing that his own desire for the disc is going to drag the nation down, and gives it to Tubbo. He watches them all celebrate and take down the Festival Decor. He walks away, passing by Techno, who wears a betray expression in his eyes, before heading into that button room for the last time.

He remembers Phil trying to talk him down, only for him to echo the words Eret said to them during his own betrayal before pressing the button and blowing up the nation he fought for. He shoves a sword into his father's hands and begs him to kill him, his son. Phil does, holding him close as he feels his final life drain away.

Ghos- Wilbur takes another deep breath before he's back to the present. Dream seems to fall in slow motion before them, falling like an angel with broken wings. Everyone's shouts echoing around them like a cruel symphony of pain.

Wilbur wills himself away and suddenly he's back with Friend, who immediately starts chewing on his trenchcoat as he nuzzles into his yellow sweater. He's going to need a lot more blue after this, but not for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This is the fic this chapter's inspired by!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28177155/chapters/69044862#workskin) Again, also by Xali_Ali, there is another writing I'm considering doing lil one-shots inspired by but we'll see.


	8. Adrenaline Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I remember Xali_Ali made a fic of this name but deleted it for A reason, if they want me to take it down I will
> 
> Basically Dream Harem Fic, the most that happens is a smooch and pre-marital hand holding maybe
> 
> Dream/Techno, Dream/George, Dream/Wilbur, Dream/Sapnap, Dream/Fundy (one of these is actually endgame despite that never being my intent with this it just Happened)
> 
> Minecraft acts like SAO-Type of VR here. Originally was suppose to be set in a minecraft-ish world but then the other bit happened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember Xali_Ali made a fic of this name but deleted it for A reason but the concept is something I love too much because I'm an apparent sucker for having a form of harem for Comedic purposes. I also remember at least another fic of theirs that they deleted but I had bookmarked but I can't for the life of me remember its name and I want to read it again because tHERE'S A REASON I BOOKMARKED IT
> 
> If they want me to take this chapter down I will

Dream wore his heart on his sleeve, but only if you knew him. If it wasn't for his mask, his heart would be open for all the world to see. With his vibrant and expressive green eyes, his face that so easily showed how he felt, not to mention his overall body language and even his tone of speaking giving away his emotions.

Falling in love with such a passionate and loving heart was easy, though after his first few relationships, he's noted down the romantic love he's felt to be alterous. He's content with the friendship he has with the people he's fallen for, but he would also be happy with a romantic relationship as well. Besides, with the career he has, a romantic relationship would be... complicated to have.

He loves Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, and Purpled like little brothers. Philza like a father. Bad, Sam, and Punz like older brothers. And everyone else on his SMP like friends. He only feels the alterous attraction for a handful of them, but enough of them that in a fit of excitement when he tackles to hug one of them, he might accidentally kiss them.

Here's a 5 Times Dream's kissed his sorta crushes and the 1 Time They Paid it back.

* * *

The first friend he kissed was Technoblade, after they had just won MCC together. Techno ran off the stage screaming his lungs out, thanking Dream, Burren, and Micheal for everyone's streams to hear. Dream was pacing on the stage, screaming as well, before he let the giddy excitement take over and he tackled his other two teammates into a hug and thanking them.

Before running off to tackle Techno into a hug and kissing him before removing himself as quickly as it happened, leaving Techno stunned for a few moments until Tommy and Wilbur tackled him into a hug. Meanwhile Dream ran off to celebrate with his friends. Only a few actually paid any mind to that kiss, mainly Scott and Nox who knew that that was going to be clipped and trending on twitter for a while.

Later, hours after that. Dream and Techno would realize what happened and avoid eye contact with each other for a month. They wouldn't talk about it, not would they think much of how the kiss felt because it happened so quick.

* * *

The second and third friends he kissed were George and Sapnap on the same night. It was after they won MCC 11, when their streams were all long done and they were some of the few people on the server left, but the adrenaline of the victory was still coursing through their veins, the trio sitting together on the floor behind a booth.

George reads a dono that came in during dodgebolt that said if he won he had to kiss Dream. Dream, who was high off the victory and probably had some sort of sugar rush given the amount of sweets him and his friends were currently consuming, pulled George in for a kiss. George paused once Dream retreated from the kiss, before cheering and falling back, laughing.

Sapnap giggles, crazy tired yet still feeling so energetic, and drapes his body on Dream's shoulders, making obnoxious smooching noises before Dream silences him with a kiss before pulling away and breaking into his own fit of giggles.

The three lie there, quietly laughing and giggling amongst themselves, before the ache and exhaustion from the day finally seeps into their bones and they all half carry each other back home.

If any of them actually processed and remembered those kisses, none of them say anything.

* * *

The fourth person was Wilbur, during an alternate explosion recording with a slightly different script.

Wilbur had just blown Manburg to bits after reclaiming it. Everyone's screams of terror and confusion echo around him like a sadistic symphony.

"MY L'MANBURG! MY GREAT UNFINISHED SYMPHONY!" He shouts for all to hear, before he breaks into a fit of manic laughter, with Dream's own dark laugh joining him as Techno's Withers are summoned.

Really feeling the insanity of their characters, and the rush of adrenaline in their veins from feeling the blast and its sound around them, Dream tackles Wilbur into a furious kiss, parting and holding each other for a few moments, eyes absolutely manic and insane like the character's they're playing. Before they realize what they just did and immediately back away from each other awkwardly and break character.

The script needed to be changed anyway, and Techno really wanted to name one of his Withers 'Subscribe to Technoblade,' and Philza still needed to be brought into the server's plot, might as well add him in with a _bang,_ and the current arc needed a more explosive and deadly finish since Wilbur was going to hand the writing over to Dream until Techno's arc started.

* * *

The fifth person Dream kissed was Fundy during their little Minecraft wedding. After he triggered the explosions Fundy set up with the canons.

Fire and debris rained from the sky, his friend's surprised and fearfully fun shouts echoing in his ear through his ear piece. He glanced as Fundy with bright wide eyes and tackled him into a hug, tripping over his heels and kissing him. Not that either of them were going to complain. It is technically their wedding after all.

"That was amazing! You're amazing Fundy!" Dream said after pulling away, holding Fundy's face in his hands, his cheeks a deep red and his tail wiggling really fast in his excitement and joy.

Dream was quickly distracted by Sapnap shouting at him from below to admire the destruction the explosion caused and to compliment Dream's dress.

"Dude how can you walk in those heels?"

"I have no idea, I've tripped like, seven or eight times on the way down here alone."

Fundy observed, the two best friends laughing before greeting and chatting with the other wedding attendants. Wilbur stands next to Fundy.

"It seems Dream has a thing for kiss people after 1. Winning and 2. Big Explosions."

Fundy chuckles, "What makes you say that? Him kissing Technoblade after winning MCC not enough?"

"Apparently he kissed George and Sapnap after MCC 11."

"And the explosion bit?" Fundy raises an eyebrow at him, before smirking, "Like father like son I suppose?"

Wilbur cringes, "Please don't refer to me as your father, I really don't want to think of me kissing my future-fictional-son-in-law."

Fundy laughs, before patting Wilbur on the back playfully, "So, when? When did he kiss you?"

"During one of the takes of me blowing up L'manburg, the final one before we added Phil and my death into the script. His positioning was wrong, and we were really in character during that moment. Made out a bit before we realized what the fuck just happened."

Fundy snickers, before patting Wilbur's shoulder as he makes his way to the church, "Try to avoid kissing my fiance from now on, _dad."_

Wilbur jokingly and dramatically gags. Who knew the bit of him singing Dear Theodosia to Fundy and making Fundy his son in the SMP lore would lead to jokes like _this._

Life finds a way.

* * *

It was after the stressful event that was Dream's face reveal. He's been avoiding almost all forms of social media for days, even when he's on the SMP he generally avoids people who are streaming because he doesn't want their donos and chat to be flooded with questions about him and his face.

After he recorded that face reveal for Mr. Beast's rewind, Sapnap and George immediately walked into frame to comfort him about his worries for the reveal. Both hugged him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before kissing his temples. Sapnap had laughed at how red his face had gotten, his blush reaching the tip of his ears and down to his neck. George was chuckling softly with him. Dream shoved them both away, calling the idiots, before stomping away with a pout.

After the Rewind was posted, Dream flew to England with Sapnap and a few other friends to visit their friends. Wilbur finally got that Pizza Hut date of his, except it wasn't at a Pizza Hut because Dream decided to spoil the _fuck_ out of his friends while he's visiting and takes Wilbur out on an actually nice joke-date.

They post a picture of them at a romantic, candle lit restaurant, one for each of their instagrams. One from Dream's angle and another from Wilbur's. Both of them dressed in extremely nice suits. The fans go _nuts_ when those pictures are posted at the same time and not even ten minutes after, they're trending on at least _three_ tags on Twitter.

Wilbur personally escorted Dream back to his hotel room that night, and before leaving the blonde, he brought Dream's hand to his lips and gently pressed a kiss over his knuckles. Dream immediately turning a deep red, averting his wide-eyed gave and opting to stare at the floor as Wilbur chuckled, low and deep, only further flustering him. Wilbur takes his leave, leaving Dream still flustered and frozen at his hotel room door.

* * *

Before they arrived at England, Dream and the other Americans planning to visit their European friends all decided to meet up somewhere in America and go to England together. Dream and Sapnap and George were already gathered at Florida, having recorded the Rewind together and the latter two deciding to stay until the trip to England. Bad and Skeppy having already met up and have been staying together for a month or so after posting their meet up video and breaking Twitter, Vurb, and the Skephalo shippers. Techno decided to meet up with Eret and Quackity since they're all in California so the three of them could go to their larger group's meet up location of NYC.

Quackity and Sapnap were quick to tackle each other into hugs, while Eret shares shorter and less furious hugs with everyone else. Techno staggering behind the two, jetlagged and tired as fuck. Thank goodness they were planning on staying in New York for a bit before heading to England. The group grabbed their luggage and headed for their hotel, nothing truly eventful happening until a week or so later, when Techno and Dream are left alone at the hotel together does something noteworthy to this tale happen.

Dream suggests they take some pictures together, just the two fo them, so he could post it on his instagram later and break the internet. Techno snorts before suggesting to put the caption, 'Subscribe to Technoblade' on the photo and nothing else. Dream wheezes, but he doesn't say no.

The two get up, both of them dressed in loose hoodies and sweats, hair mused from lying down. One of them opens the blinds of their hotel room window to let the bright lights of New York shine through, while the other turns off most of the lights. They're both nothing if not try hards, even a little bit so.

With an arm over each other's shoulders, Dream counts down for the burst shots. 3, 2, 1!

Picture 1: Dream and Techno staring with bright but sleepy eyes at the camera, as the lights of the city behind them illuminate their forms. Dream wears a sleepy but bright and toothy grin, while Techno dons a tired and shy smile. Arms awkwardly and firmly on each other's shoulders.

Picture 2: Dream's smile is a bit smaller, but Techno's eyes and head are slightly turned to Dream's face. Their forms are a bit more relaxed, the arm that was on Dream's shoulder having moved to his side with a looser hold. Techno's gaze looks soft, almost fond.

Picture 3: Techno's kissing Dream's cheek with closed eyes and a lax form. Meanwhile Dream's eyes say shock but the goofy grin on his face says a bit more with that statement.

Picture 4: Dream's blurry head as he whips it to look at Techno, who threw his head back in a laughter. A stupid grin on Dream's face.

Picture 5: The Camera is pointing at the neat ceiling of their hotel room.

Picture 6: Dream and Techno with stupid grins on their face, cheeks squished together, a light blush on both their faces.

In the end, Dream never posts those pictures. But he does post one of him and Techno recreating frames from the Sad-ist animatic of their duel with some toy axes and swords. The frame of their first clash, Techno pointing an axe to Dream's throat sealing his victory, the two of them shaking hands, before the final frame of Dream raising Techno's hand to confirm his victory. The captain for it on his instagram was simply: 6-4.

* * *

Niki, Fundy, and a few other friends that didn't live in England met up with them a good week or so after Dream and Wilbur's 'date.' With the team announcing their arrival through Wilbur's instagram.

One the foreground are Tubbo and Tommy doing the pog face while behind them it looks like Dream and Wilbur are being separately scolded by Fundy and NIki respectively, with the rest of their friends trying to poorly fit into frame in the background. Quackity really had to do it to them, huh.

After that, all of their instagrams were flooded with pictures of them hanging out at some tourist spots, and eating at hole-in-the-wall restaurants for lunch, with the occasional high-end place curtesy of Dream.

Though people on twitter were lightly bullying (jokingly for the most part) about not taking Fundy out on a nice date like he had with Wilbur, smh Dre, smh.

That was until two weeks later when Dream posted a picture of him in a really nice suit, adjusting the cuffs, a few _decorative_ rings on his fingers, biting the corner of his lip, head tilted slightly up. And another photo of him from a different angle, slicking his hair back with one hand, the other in his pocket, eyes not looking at the camera, but the camera does pick up the earrings he's wearing. The post is captioned with: Getting ready for a triple-doubt date.

The pictures actually break twitter, like, legit the site crashes. The first thing Dream tweets after those pictures are posted and twitter is back and functioning is: Thank god we decide to post these photos days after they happened.

BadBoyHalo  
@/SaintsofGaming  
Can't wait to break twitter again in a few days!

Dream's next instagram post is accompanied by other's perspective of the same event. It's a nice candle lit dinner at an outdoor restaurant. But Dream took pictures of Phil and his wife, and Niki and Wilbur having their meals at nearby but separate tables, the other photos are of Fundy and Dream sitting together and being ridiculous. Caption: On a date with @/fundylive to spy on these two couples! More on his end!

Fundy's post is a series of absolutely stunning pictures of Dream under the moonlight and above candlelight. His caption is just a bunch of heart emojis.

Philza, Niki, and Wilbur's instagram posts on it are similar. A silly one pointing out the fact that they're all at the same restaurant but at different tables, then one focused on their own dates.

But then all of them post another picture with the exact same background, the London Eye and the many bright lights on a cloudy night. Niki and Wilbur simply stand next to each other, arms around their waists. Philza and Kristen sharing a quick kiss, holding each other close. And lastly, Fundy and Dream, arms loosely wrapped around each other, sharing a tender kiss under the lights of the city. Fundy's caption is "I KISSED Dream!"

* * *

The day after those pictures were posted and crashed twitter.

George  
@/GeorgeNotFound  
Dream OFFICIALLY left me for a furry 😞

* * *

Dream laughs at George's stupid tweet, before showing it to his boyfriend who laughs as well before looking to George with a smug grin.

"You should've made a move faster, now this man is _mine,"_ He says, before going in to kiss Dream on the cheek. George scoffs with a chuckle before rolling his eyes.

"Still can't believe the LAST guy between the five of us to get a kiss from him ended up dating him. Smh," Techno complains, before continuing on with scrolling through instagram for fanart for the SMP.

"Wait, Wilbur didn't you go on a date with him? Why didn't you ask him them?" Wilbur doesn't say anything other than flopping onto the floor, face first into a pillow, and screaming.


	9. Dream No More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by the untitled Chapter 9 of Xali_Ali's request work 2
> 
> Nightmare's view and then my take

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **TW:** Blood, some kinda derealization or dissociation, Major Character Death

Nightmare was Dream's Dreamon, he was the devil on Dream's shoulder pushing him to do his worse impulses for his own sick entertainment. Dreamons live for chaos, and Dream was a naturally chaotic person. But not the wildfire that most were, his chaos was organized. A paradox. An oxymoron. There were methods to his madness, with no further reason than just plain fun.

Nightmare was content to reside within Dream without ever pushing the boy to do and be his worse. But then the SMP started and the wars started. That's when Nightmare interfered, because the stress of the situation was getting to his vessel. It was killing Dream. Sleepless nights and multiple missed meals made him take control for reasons other than to cause chaos and violence like most Dreamons did, he did it to keep his precious vessel _alive._

But then L'manburg had an election and Schlatt was crowned their new President. Schlatt was a different beast, something about the ram oozed lethality and charisma. It wasn't until Schlatt came to Dream with an offer did Nightmare realize what Schlatt was. He had a Dreamon too. One _far_ stronger than Nightmare, but one that prided itself to be non-violent directly. Rather, they had their vessel pull the strings so that opposition destroyed themselves from the inside out. But Nightmare has seen the stubborn passionate determination in Tommy, who's flame infects those around him. Schlatt's Dreamon would lose this fight.

Nightmare got front row seats of it happening live. Even if his grip on Dream had gotten weaker after those damned Hunters found him, they failed to fully remove him. Rather, they locked him away so that control would be harder to grasp.

Oh how he wished those Hunters never found him, because Dream's back to suffering and now he can't do anything except watch and attempt to shout at him through the fog in the boy's heart and soul. He could always leave his vessel and leave Dream to die. But Dream is the perfect vessel for Nightmare, strong, smart, fast, and capable. As well as the natural affinity for the brand of chaos Nightmare produces. Finding another vessel like this would be impossible. It's not that he actually _cares_ about his vessel. Preposterous. Asinine.

* * *

As he watches the once bright fire in his vessel slowly die out, he wishes he could do more to save him. Dream decided- _It_ decided, because whoever is controlling Dream right now isn't _Dream,_ to play the villain in everyone's story. If only to fulfil the wish of who it used to be. Uniting the Dream SMP as one family, not separate by sides, countries, locations, discs, or anything. Where people choose people instead of nations or objects.

It acts with emotion because the lack of them will make others catch on and it doesn't know what'll happen if it breaks. What'll happen to whatever remains of Dream reside in it. If there is any.

Nightmare feels his Dreamonic influence take over Dream's body, turning his blood black, his eyes an empty light grey and sclera a deep black. But Nightmare isn't doing anything. Player bodies are made to naturally not let Dreamon influence change them unless the Dreamon takes full control. But it seems to have given up and _let_ the influence of Nightmare's presence in Dream change the body.

Nightmare can't leave. Not without risking Dream's death, and even though Dream might not be there anymore, Nightmare isn't taking that chance.

* * *

It exiles Tommy. It toys with Tommy, knowing that no matter how damaged and destroyed the boy becomes, that little spark in him will remain. It pushes George and Sapnap away, because if they did care they would've noticed that it is no longer Dream. It knows that they would all be happier without it anyway, so might as well make as many enemies as possible. The only thing that unites people on here is a common enemy and nothing else if the Battle for Manburg was any indication.

It watches the True Fall of L'manburg happen before its eyes. As TNT rains down from the skies, making the crater that is now L'manburg impossibly deeper. As Techno slaughters the many people that try to stop the destruction from happening. As Fundy watches on, desperate for them to all finally learn a lesson instead of repeating history again and again and again.

As Niki burns down the L'mantree, echoing Eret and Wilbur's words, "It was never meant to be."

It knows that all the deaths happening before it won't be enough to take a life away from anyone. This battle is just mindless destruction. Their deaths won't be satisfying to whatever beings are watching them. The only people who could die here and lose a life are it, Techno, and Philza. But a life was already taken today. L'manburg's last life was taken today by the true owner of the land, at least, someone who used to be the owned of this SMP and not this hallow, unfeeling shell.

It watches an arrow speed towards Philza's head, his health down to half a heart. It feels Nightmare claw at it through its soul and brain and heart (if it even has one) to go and protect him, save him. Phil's the only person on here that has done nothing but good to everyone if they didn't wrong him first. He's Wilbur and Tommy's father. He's the only one Techno cares about. _He only has one life._

That last thought is what breaks its grip and releases Dream, who finally breaths for the first time in months without an ache in his hallow heart. Only panic as adrenaline rushes through his veins as he drops down to take an arrow to the heart for Phil.

Before Dream's sight fades, he spots the shocked and fearful expression on Phil's face as explosions and Withers echo around them.

* * *

**Dream was shot by ↸ᒷᓭℸ ̣ ╎リ||**

**Operator commands have now been transferred to !¡⍑1ꖎ⨅ᔑ? ℸ ̣ ⚍ʖʖ𝙹_? ʖᔑ↸ʖ𝙹||⍑ᔑꖎ𝙹? ᓵᔑꖎꖎᔑ⍑ᔑリ**

* * *

The text flashes before everyone, which causes them to stop and take a moment to realize what just happened.

"DREAM!" Sapnap shouts, piercing through the shock in everyone as the man runs over to his best friend's corpse, before staggering at the void black blood oozing out of his friend's chest. Seeping into his bright lime green turning it black. He collapses onto his knees before his friend's body, covering his mouth as he cries.

Phil holds Dream's head on his lap, gently carding his fingers through dead blond locks. If only to try and make Dream's final moments before death the tiniest bit comforting. But he knows the boy is already dead.

Slowly, the rest of the server gathers around the body of their once friend turned enemy. Sapnap, George, Bad, Ant, Punz, and Sam all hold each other as they cry over the death of their dear friend. Most stand in shock as tears fall from their eyes. Then it starts to rain, as if the world itself was weeping.

"That-" Tommy starts, the first to speak after Sapnap's heartbroken scream, "The green bastard's dead. But- but he'll respawn right?" He looks around to everyone, helpless and hopeful. His age showing through in how he looks at everyone with naive eyes. God he was too young to have gone through the things he had, how could they all forget that? "Big D will respawn. He will, won't he? He'll—"

Tommy is cut off by Tubbo tackling him into a hug and sobbing into his chest, shaking his head. Tommy didn't say anything as he held his friend and the tears in his eyes started to spill. They're both too young to have seen as many wars and death as they had. Too young to have gone through death twice each.

As the sky started to thunder, Techno drapes his cape over Tommy and Tubbo, before using his trident to get atop the obsidian platforms and start disabling the redstone. Slowly, but surely others get up to do the same before they all turn to slay the Withers.

Eventually, Tommy and Tubbo removed Techno's cape from them and placed it over Dream's body, before they hesitantly removed his mask and placed it in his hands on his chest.

* * *

Sometime after the Withers are all slain, the group goes back to Dream's body, only to find a person who looks exactly like Dream, except dressed in dark red and with a black mask. They all freeze, many of them hesitating at the sight of a man who looks so much like their dead friend, but Phil and Techno step forward, ready to fight to protect the people behind them despite having just destroyed their nation.

"You're probably wondering who I am," Nightmare starts, his voice exactly like Dream's except with an demonic echo, "I am Nightmare. Dream's Dreamon." At that information, Tubbo, Fundy, and Sapnap all step up, ready to fight. "Relax, hunters, I didn't do this to him. I would never. I care too much about this fool to try and destroy him like this."

"I knew-" Sapnap's voice cracks as he speaks, "I knew that it stopped being Dream a long time ago but far too late. If it wasn't you, then who was it?"

Nightmare shrugs, gaze still locked on Dream's exposed face, "His own traitorous mind? The fates? The prison of isolation he built around himself? The walls and barriers and gaps he made between everyone he cared about? His own aching and suffering heart, desperate to stop the pain and loneliness? I don't know what to tell you. All I know is that I could do nothing as Dream destroyed himself. I could've left at any point, but I didn't because I didn't want to leave him alone. But it was already too deep in and Dream was long gone."

"'It?' Who's 'it?'" George asks, voice surprisingly clear and sharp.

"'It' is whatever monster Dream became. Whatever monster it started believing itself to be. It was the one to exile and toy with Tommy's mind. It was the one who destroyed the community house. All the bad stuff it held in as Dream released like a dangerous, unrelenting hurricane. The last time I saw Dream in it, was just moments before he died protecting Phil. I guess love isn't just a weakness to Dreamons, but even the internal monsters inside someone's mind. Can't say that love would've saved him in the end, but it wouldn't have hurt to try." Nightmare sighs, looking up into the clearing sky, "The sun shine's after every storm, bringing with it warmth and light. Let Dream's death not be in vein. Learn from his mistakes and death and do better so it something like it doesn't happen again."

With that Nightmare disappears, leaving a white rose in Dream's cold dead hands.

* * *

The funeral is solemn. The sun is shining too brightly for the funeral of this server's owner. Everyone attends it, even Alyssa and Callahan. Everyone leaves some sort of gift at his grave. He wasn't an unforgivable tyrant like Schlatt, at least he wasn't always like that. He was once a friend. Family. To them all, and he deserves to be remembered and treated as such. But they will not forget how he fell. How he flew too low in his mind and drowned at sea. How he soared too high in the eyes of others and melted his wings.

Ghostbur and Glatt watch the funeral from a distance. A younger spirit standing behind them with curious bright green eyes, a grey parrot on his shoulder, and a white stallion on a lead in his hands.

"Should we tell 'em?" Glatt asks Ghostbur, who sighs, running a hand through his hair. When did Ghostbur get fingerless gloves?

"I don't think we should. Not yet. Not until he's ready," He points to their new friend, who seems to be playing with the spirit of two foxes and a lot of wolves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got distracted and hell writer's blocked trying to write Alternate Versions of the Wingfic after seeing Sad-ist's _Dawn of the 16th_ animation, because Philza's wing got fucked up during the blast and that low-key lives rent free in my head


	10. Time Loop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream & Techno are the only two souls trapped in a time loop on the Dream SMP, with _our_ canon of it being another one of the many loops they've lived through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [WinterEnchantress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterEnchantress/pseuds/WinterEnchantress)' fic _[once again with feeling](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28592391)_
> 
> Dream/Technoblade
> 
>  **TW:** Potential/Implied Insanity (at least enough for them to murder for real and not be too guilty), Implied Character Death, Implied Murder, Implied Manipulation

Dream and Techno didn't know why the loops started, and they've done everything they could the first five loops (not including the initial five or so loops of them figuring out how long the loops last and that it was even happening) trying to break it with their friends.

They knew they could keep items with them if they held onto it during the loop, but only if the items had meaning to them. 'Items' apparently included pets, because Dream has kept his cat, Patches, with him through all of the time loops after he got her.

They didn't know when they stopped searching and when they just let themselves have fun with the loops. Living out different scenarios and lives. It was like reincarnation, minus a lot of the boring bits. They were probably a _bit_ insane from all the loops after they stopped trying to break it and started living out different scenarios.

* * *

This time, Dream decided to have a relatively calm loop. Build a house and just vibe with his best friends on the SMP. Slowly but surely, many other familiar faces started to join. And it seems that this loop wouldn't be calm after all.

It starts with discs, Tommy, and Tubbo. Then it goes to Wilbur and his drug van and nation (L'manburg, not the first time it's appeared in a loop). The War for Independence. Eret's betrayal. Eret being crowned. The Pet Wars. The Election.

Schlatt wins the election, this loop. Dream's a bit curious as to why considering this time isn't all too different from one of the previous loops this plot has happened in (Butterfly effect, his husband would say. Too bad he's not here and not Dream's husband this time around).

Tommy and Wilbur summon Technoblade, and Dream has to physically stop himself from running to spawn to kiss his beloved (it's been a long few months, this plot always has Techno come into the fold too late for Dream's liking), but Dream is nothing if not dedicated to the character he's playing during these loops.

(Him and Techno always roughly plan a plot they'll do for that loop. Whether they be kings, gods, farmers, or kind souls living in a cottage. During the ones where they aim for specific titles, those are ones much more planned. They shape their characters as they go, committing fully to the bit even when they're alone. Unless its a loop where they're not doing something like taking over the world and are just living together)

Dream decides to side with Pogtopia this time, not the first time it's appeared either, if only to be with Technoblade a bit more. He gifts Tommy armour, a sword, and his signature crossbow.

When Techno's out mining Netherite for himself, Dream messages him to meet at a mountain not too far from the main SMP but far enough that no one would see them. It's a mountain they've both been to dozens of times during the loops, but not without reason, they had their first kiss here. They got married here. So of course the first time they interact in this loop, a loop where they can't interact much, has to be here.

* * *

"I left a message for Tommy, but he can't read it until later. I'm assuming you've seen it?"

"I've seen the chest its in and the gifts you left, but I haven't touched the book. That's for Wilbur and Tommy to read."

"I want to help you guys, but the faction of the SMP must remain neutral. So I can only help you three in the shadows." Dream offers him a satchel, which Techno takes with little hesitation.

Techno smirks at the contents in the satchel, "Pleasure doing business with you."

Dream chuckles, flicking his mask up to show his smirk, "I'm not done with you yet, love."

Techno raises an eyebrow at him, "Oh? Is the great Dream trying to court me?"

"Shut _up,_ I've missed you," He grumbles, before going in to hug his beloved. Relishing in his touch and warmth and comfort. Especially during a loop like this, which will most likely end with him alone until the next loop.

He feels Techno chuckle, before hugging back, "So, what role are you playing this loop? I'm aiming for Anarchist that wants to take down all forms of seriously structured government. Though, I don't think Tommy or Wilbur got that message, so we'll see how _that_ plays out."

Dream sighs, before lifting his head to look Techno in the eye, his mask having been moved before he leapt in for the hug, "I'm not sure. I want the discs. But I don't like having government factions outside of the SMP proper. I unbanned Schlatt because it would make the election interesting. I gave L'manburg independence with the price of Tommy's discs."

"Hmm..." Techno hums, running his hand through Dream's hair, "Maybe, aim for a man who just wants to unit his SMP but got lost in all the war, blood, and chaos that it's the only thing he knows and craves. That he's here and has power over everyone in his SMP, whether it be political or physical."

"A man who wants to tamper out any rebellion that doesn't align with his goals of uniting his once beloved SMP. I like that. I'll consider it, but who knows I might join you on Team Anarchist," Dream adds with a cheeky smirk.

The two part from the mountain as unsure allies.

* * *

Neither of them really expected that the next time they would fight side-by-side is to protect Tommy after he lava-casted the Eiffel Tower, griefed several things, and pissed off a handful of people which resulted in Niki getting taken as hostage.

"And I hate to say it to you," Tommy says, looking at Sapnap dead in the eye, before chuckling, "But I have the Blade."

Technoblade appears dramatically with Dream on horseback, both decked out in full enchanted Netherite. The two step off the horse to stand beside Tommy and Niki... neither of the latter two of which have armour.

As Tommy dramatically banters with the opposition (he would make a really fun addition to the time loop, but he's too young, and the only reason they're okay with maybe traumatizing him and Tubbo more than they should is because they know time will loop back in the end and make them forget. Any fears they've had that it won't has long since been tampered down), Dream and Techno watch on, occasionally sneaking glances at Niki.

The battle isn't significant enough to warrant any lives to be taken, only respawns, as well as lightly bruised egos. Punz quickly defects when Techno offers him stuff as payment, Niki comedically gets caught in the crossfire, and Tommy gets stabbed like twenty times and doesn't really do anything.

After the battle, as the sunsets on a battle well fought, Punz escorts Niki back to her home as night falls, Tommy basks in the victory as he watches the sunset, and Dream and Techno take his horse back to his hidden stable. The two banter like the rivals turned shaky allies that they are.

* * *

Dream wasn't expecting anything to happen when he helped Techno find his horse. Much less wake up in his husband's bed the next day, cuddled up to him.

He blearily opened his eyes to meet the warm and sleepy gaze of his beloved, "Miss me much?" He murmured, voice hoarse from the night before.

Techno just chuckles, deep and low and warm, before leaning in to kiss his forehead, "Yeah," He sighs, before cuddling closer, "Fighting alongside you always feels different from fighting against you. The same thrill but much more personal."

"Mhm, we should add a with benefits to whatever we're going to be this time around."

Techno hums, nuzzling into Dream's bedhead, "Maybe next loop we have something like this."

* * *

Techno's been too busy grinding for weapons to actually contribute to the drama happening, so most of the information he knows is from little notes Dream leaves in his base (they agreed that if it was a base they were going to show off to people eventually, they would share it with other. If not, then they would share it with each other on the last few days of the loop).

The festival comes and goes, Tubbo dies in a colourful fiery explosion, with Quackity and Schlatt getting caught in the crossfire. Tubbo and Niki join Pogtopia.

Dream leaves a franticly written note at Techno's base, something about Schlatt knowing about the loop. Not the first time it's happened, but a terrifying occurrence nonetheless. Schlatt's dangerous in many of the loops they've lived through. Smart, dangerously charismatic, and an incredible actor. But many of the loops make it so he's usually at his cruelest, which makes it difficult for them to get attached enough to him to add him to the loops. Even if they did, there's no saying that he doesn't have the potential to still remain that nice.

He's informed by Wilbur that the 16th is the day of the final battle. The Battle for Manburg. Schlatt has Dream and his people on his side, while Wilbur is so sure that he only has Techno, Tommy, Tubbo, Quackity, and Niki.

The 16th arrives, Techno and Dream meet up when the moon is high, before the sunrises.

"So," Techno drawls, as he sits next to Dream on the mountain they first met at, "Have you decided what role you're going to play this time around?"

"Schlatt bribed me to his side with the information of us looping. He already gave me the book, in exchange for my loyalty in the battle. Wilbur has actually given me the perfect script to use for my character. Someone who wants infighting to weaken everyone so he can seize control once more and unit his SMP once again. I plan on getting a couple other people into the SMP after this. They should make the downtime before the next arc starts interesting for everyone. I'm thinking... an explosive finish to this loop."

"Withers?" Techno asks, a dark glow in his eyes. Dream meets his gaze, mask off, with equally dark and ecstatic— borderline manic— look in his deep green eyes and a crazed smile on his lips.

"Whatever you and Wilbur are doing today, but _more_. But it all depends on if I can get everyone to destroy each other before that or not, because I want this loop to end in a bloodbath. Whether it be by friend betraying friend or by both of us raining chaos and hell on them all."

"You're really diving deep into the calm insanity of this one, aren't you?" Techno says fondly, eyeing that glint in Dream's eye that tells him that his beloved hasn't truly lost it. He's just a bit bloodthirsty after too many of the recent loops' lack of excitement. Despite this loop having several wars, they weren't particularly _bloody_ wars.

There's a reason Dream's the _Blood God's_ husband.

* * *

Manburg goes out with a bang, Wilbur gets stabbed, and Techno summons the Withers. The weeks following it are a struggle for the people, but especially for Techno, who's hustling to hide as much of his stuff as possible from the L'manburgians who want revenge.

Techno moves to the Artic in a nice snow cabin with his pets. Retirement, he calls it. But he knows that someone— other than his beloved— will drag him back into the fold. Dream doesn't leave him notes this time, his attention focused on the character he's playing and the plot he's weaving. But due to his free time, Techno sneaks back to the main SMP lands to listen to the local gossip to keep up with the plot.

Tommy's exiled. His mental stability crumbles. He's manipulated by Dream. He realizes that and finds Techno's base and lives in his basement like a leeching racoon.

Techno is given an attempted execution, only prevented by the Totem of Undying Dream led him to. He takes another one of Quackity's lives, this time with nothing more than a pickaxe. Blood for the Blood God at last.

Techno finds Tommy, and keeps him. Techno starts to consider Tommy a friend, and when he finally tells the boy that fact, its the day he betrays him. Running back to Tubbo once more.

* * *

"Techno?" Dream says his usual confidence, turning to him as they're surrounded by almost everyone in the server, now their enemies, "Got any Withers?"

Techno smirks, toothy and bloodthirsty, "Oh I'm liking where this is going Dream."

Everyone around them has visibly paled and is frantically trying to convince Techno not to, but they're speaking over each other. That is what's going to get them all slaughtered in the end and oh is it going to be _beautiful._

"We," Dream yells, silencing everyone so surely that there's a reason that the only way to beat him is by uniting, "Are giving you a day. Say your goodbyes. We're going to be finishing the job Wilbur started. It all ends tomorrow."

Everyone starts shouting again, but Dream isn't listening as calmly walks out of the destroyed Community House.

Techno stays to say some parting words to Tommy, as well as request his axe back (he knows Tommy wasn't going to give it back, but it couldn't hurt to try at least) before he disappears from their sights and heads home.

* * *

Techno tells Phil what happened immediately, before Dream appears out of nowhere to discuss plans. He shows Dream the second Vault, the walls lined with Wither Skulls from hours upon hours of grinding. Phil takes down Tommy's Traitor Tower while the Chaos Duo talk plans for L'manburg's final death tomorrow.

The loop is ending in a few days. L'manburg, something that's been here since whatever plot Dream's been playing in has started rolling, will end tomorrow like this loop.

The rest of the day is Dream and Techno planning at Techno's (their) house into the night. Dream said a specific time but that was so he has time to get canons and such ready to obliterate L'manburg.

Randomly, Dream asks in the quiet, sweet voice of his husband, "Do you want to add anyone to the loop?"

"Haah?" Techno blinks, did he hear that right?

"Do you want to add anyone to the time loop? You know its possible, but do you want to add anyone from this loop ones?"

"I don't know. Do you?"

Dream bites his chapped lip, teeth nipping at the skin peeling off of them, "I don't know. I'm not sure. I want to add Punz but I'm... I don't want to add him and leave him hanging as a third wheel."

"Phil. I don't mind add him. He's my only friend, outside of you my heart, so if I had to pick anyone it could only be him."

Dream nods, "If they survive tomorrow, which they should given that Punz still has all his lives and Phil is the man who never dies, we'll ask them."

* * *

Ranboo doing nothing was expected. He chooses people, not sides. He owes Techno and Phil.

Fundy doing nothing was unexpected, but it seems he's finally fed up with everyone's bullshit with nations and wars. He's done fighting for a nation that has given him nothing but pain and suffering.

Niki burning down the L'mantree was completely out of left field, because no one ever expected her patience to run out. She's not just a kind sweet baker girl that likes helping her friends and nation. She's done with choosing nations and leaders that won't put the values of what L'manburg stood for alive. She's choosing people, and she chooses the friends that still aren't blinded.

As chaos rains upon the server, Dream and Techno overlook it atop the hill of Schlatt's grave, covered in the blood of their friends, as thunder and lighting echo around them. The two look at what they've caused with crazed smiles, Dream's mask broke long into the destruction, leaving his piercing green eyes for all to see. Not that there are many left who can see.

Adrenaline rushing through their veins, Techno grabs Dream's face and pulls him into a furious kiss. It's been too damn long and the two quickly get drunk and lost on the feel of their lover's touch.

The two of them make out as chaos surrounds them, not caring who's watching. The storm could've stopped, the TNT could've been disabled, and the Withers all slain and still, neither of them would notice. Arm's holding the other close, Techno's hand running through and gently pulling on Dream's hair, Dream's own hands furiously gripping at his blood stained blue cape.

They only part when the need for air outweighs the desperate need to hold their lover. Even then, the two are tangled together, foreheads leaning on the other's, arms still loosely holding on.

The insane and cold gaze in Dream's eyes is gone, replaced with the person Techno fell in love with. He really throws himself into his acting, but it wouldn't make these loops as interesting as they are without it. A warm grin has replaced the manic grin or calculating smirk he's seen on him during this loop.

"Ahem." They turn to the cough (Phil's), only to find the confused gazes of Phil, Punz, Niki, Hbomb, Fundy, and Eret. "What."

Dream immediately breaks into his stupid iconic wheezing laugh, causing the onlookers to flinch. They haven't heard that laugh in _ages._ Then Techno's lightly laughing beside him as well, a tender smile on the Blood God's face as his eyes are locked on Dream's heaving form as the blond stays standing only by holding onto the hybrid.

Eventually, after many failed attempts of Dream composing himself, Techno explains the whole time loop situation and asks Punz and Phil the big question.

"Do you two want to join us in the next loop? Keep all of the terrible, terrible memories of what happened here and potentially live through it all again?"

Punz and Phil lock eyes for a moment, before Phil turns back to the apparent couple, "We'll think about it. We only have a few days, correct?"

Techno nods, before adding, "Meet us at my house when you're ready. Any physical object you want to bring, which includes pets, would be more sure to be brought if you're holding them. I might bring Carl into the next loop with me. Now, I'm going with _this_ —" He points to Dream, who's now tiredly nuzzling into Techno's side— "idiot to go and get cleaned and get some rest. It's been a long day. Any questions?"

Fundy steps up, Techno represses a sigh, "So, has all of that been just an act? Like this is all some fun game? Surely you two aren't so far gone to find entertainment in these deaths, this blood on your hands?"

Dream lifts his head up and gives the fox hybrid a sharp and piercing glare that has him shrinking in on himself, despite the glare he answers the questions calmly, "Yes, basically. After being looped around as many times as we have, you learn that things change from the smallest of things. Tommy still would've been his usual stubborn self, picking fights with all the wrong people and starting wars. No matter what happened, there would be a point where the blood of a friend would be on our hands. Maybe we are as far gone to find entertainment in it, but clearly not so far gone that we're actually mad. If we were, well, you wouldn't still be standing, now, would you?"

Fundy flinches away, Eret and Hbomb taking a step forward to block the fox from the power couple. Niki curiously asks, "What are you two doing next loop?"

Dream and Techno share a look before Techno speaks, "Probably just a build a nice cottage and live peacefully with our pets. I miss my husband and I really don't want to be separated from him through another loop."

Eret raises an eyebrow at that, lowering his shades slightly to look at them, "You two are married? Since when if I may ask?"

"We're not married in this loop. We married loops ago," Dream informs, after a couple of minutes with no more further questions, the couple departs.

* * *

Dream apparently does have a house, and it's built into a snowy mountain far off from the main SMP. It's nice and spacious. Patches is basking in the light from a window hidden by another mountain.

The two, after showering and changing into clean clothes, spend the rest of the night cuddled together by the fire as the simply sit and enjoy the other's company. It's nice. They've missed this. And this is going to be what the next loop is and they're honestly looking forward to it. Let's just hope their friends don't cause chaos and get them roped into it. But usually when they aim for peaceful loops with their lover, they tell their friends that they've been seeing each other in secret and have been engaged or have just gotten engaged. Then there usually isn't much conflict because everyone's too busy with planning their wedding.

Maybe next loop they can have another nice wedding at that mountain again.

Speaking of marriage, the one who proposes this time is Techno. He proposes with daggers made from a variety of gems and minerals. As strong as Netherite, but there are specs of gold and diamond blinking throughout the emerald blade. The handle is made out of iron, and the hilt holds an Ender Eye surrounded by tiny diamonds and emeralds.

Despite having done this dozens of times before, their hearts still skip a beat when either one of them proposes again. But after the first few times, they don't have to worry about the answer changing. Including right now, as Dream pulls Techno in for a sweet kiss before whispering, "Yes," like a tender promise and secret.

* * *

Punz and Philza take their offer, but it seems they brought Fundy, Niki, Eret, and Hbomb along to see them off. The exact timing of when the loop resets is vague, but its within a specific week time span that the couple makes sure to be away from all the drama and just be with each other planning the next loop. Since they're planning on living peacefully and domestically next loop, not much planning is needed. So they just hang out with their friends (?) until the next loop starts.

"Do you know about the Many Worlds Theory?" Eret asks, a question they've asked before in other loops.

"Yes, but the time loops operate on a system like that _plus_ the multiverse theory," Dream quickly informs, "Meaning this world is not always the same world, and you guys aren't all the same people. We have lived through a world like this multiple times, but not all the time. The loop prior to this, all of the events that happened in the SMP was nothing more than a roleplay. A story that was made to entertain people. Several loops prior to this one, Techno and I were princes of warring nations who hated each other. After the first dozen or so loops, the world around us started to shift instead of simply putting us in the Groundhogs Day scenario. We get... a vision or preview of the next loop on the final week. That's happened almost since the start."

"Have I brought up the chance of you two stopping the loops but also continuing it at the same time? Where one version of you two, plus Phil and Punz, move onto the next loop, but another version stays here? Because you can't just disappear out of thin air, leaving nothing behind. Something has to take your place."

Techno sighs, running a hand through his hair, "We can't say it hasn't happened because obviously we're the versions that are still trapped in the loop. I honestly don't know what either of us would really do during the more extreme loops if we were left here without the resets."

Fundy's ears twitch at that, "Why didn't either of you have contingency plans for this kind of thing?"

Techno shrugs, "I haven't been involved enough with the overall plot for my actions to have consequences dire enough for me to really be worried about. But Dream on the other hand..."

All eyes turn to the blond in question, who's absent mindedly playing with Patches, "I have a couple of contingency plans. One of the bigger ones is that little Dreamon incident that Fundy and Tubbo did."

Techno raises an eyebrow at that, "There are Dreamons in this world this loop?"

"Apparently so, and yes I've double checked that it wasn't just Fundy and Tubbo fucking around. It wouldn't be that hard to get a Dreamon to possess me again and supposedly influence my behaviour. As much fun as it is to play this part, I want to hang out with my friends again," Dream says, talking as if its only him and Techno, before turning his gaze to the others, "We usually have a couple of contingency plans if we're freed from the loop during a particularly intense one. But it all depends on what we've done, the world we're in, etc. The Dreamon one is one I've had set since you and Tubbo tried to exorcise me and confirming that Dreamons are a thing in this loop."

"But- but- the flying-? The- the... the exploding?" Fundy stammers, trying to figure out how Dream could have those capabilities even without a Dreamon. Dream simply gives him a dark smile, his green eyes unnaturally bright all of the sudden.

* * *

The next loop is Dream, Techno, and their pets living atop their mountain in a humble little cottage, with a potato farm at the base. Rings on their fingers, enchanted so they can feel the other's beating heart and warmth through it.

Philza and Punz take this loop to live through the peace they never got the chance to.

This loop's world is much more similar to the previous loop's. Maybe so the two new additions can adjust and get a happy ending here.

When the SMP starts opening to other friends, Techno is one of the first people Dream whitelists alongside Punz, Philza, Tommy, Tubbo, and Wilbur. That's when the two reveal their relationship statues as a couple, have been for a while now.

They're both quick to talk about a potential proposal to their friends, happily gushing about their beloved to their friends and loved ones. Instead of a wars splitting people apart, the only sides there are are which side of the wedding venue you're sitting on.


	11. The Void Is My Only Companion - Continuation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again inspired by Xali_Ali that has a fic of the same name
> 
> Everyone hears about Dream's state after Puffy, Sam, and Punz found him at the central portal, but no one is allowed to see him yet outside of Techno, Philza, and Ranboo.
> 
> Note: Dream's design will be different than what Xali did because I'm a fan of more basic bitch designs for I am a basic bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **TW:** Implied (?) Abuse, Implied (?) Mental Abuse, Implied (?) Physical Abuse, Implied Manipulation, Implied (?) Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Self-loathing, Self-hatred, Guilt, Brief Suicide Mention
> 
> His manipulation of Tommy during Exile isn't canon (or at least not as severe) because canon wise? It didn't impact the Death of L'manburg all too much. Sure it made Techno & Tommy's interactions be a lot sweeter in subtle ways but it hasn't really impacted the plot. Also because in the fic that inspired this chapter its listed as not canon lol

Punz helped Sam carry Dream to his base while Puffy and Niki gathered medical supplies and got the place ready. Once they got there, Puffy and Sam quickly got to work while Punz simply stood back and watched. Observing Dream and his appearance.

To say that Dream looked like shit was an understatement. He looked tired and hurt and so small and weak when they first found him, before he lost consciousness in Puffy's arms. But he also looked different, drastically and terrifyingly so.

His left eye's sclera was as dark as the void and its cruel twinkling stars, the green of his eyes barely visible with the ender purple surrounding the once bright and ever expressive green. His right eye's sclera was lava orange, bubbling and hot. The green was surrounded by Netherrack red being eaten away by Wither black. His hair was similarly split too, once dirty blond locks split off into End Stone's sandy yellow and Shroomlight's orange and pale yellows. His skin looked like it was chipped away by Dragon's Breath and fire, purple and red burns and cracks— marks?— littering his skin. But never fraying from the split.

His clothes were not the same black pants, and lime green hoodie he left in. He was wearing a new breed of End armour overtop some stronger looking Netherite. The End armour is the same colour as the End Cities and End Stone. The new Netherite has extra diamonds and gold lacing it, but its also a deep Nether Brick red. Instead of splitting down the middle, however, the armour is separated almost at random. The End chestplate that seems to have been fused with an Elytra to give him retractable wings. Nether boots that probably give him the ability to walk on lava. The leggings are a mix of pieces from both sets, same thing with the arm guards. It doesn't seem like they— whatever or _who_ ever turned Dream into _this_ and gave him the armour— bothered to give him a helmet. Or maybe Dream threw it away.

Swords, a utility belt, and an axe are propped against the wall that were equipped on Dream. One blade is void black, twinkling like the stars within that unforgiving darkness. There's an Ender Eye on the guard and an Ender Pearl on the pommel on the sword's hilt. The other one is a bright, hot nether crimson red. A blaze rod for the guard, and a mix of weeping and twisting vines on the handle. Both blades radiate so much power that Punz wouldn't be surprised if they were enchanted with something no one's seen.

The axe. It's Dream's axe, Punz would know. But it's been changed (like its owner). Weeping and twisting vines on the handle. The blade itself is as red as the Nether sword, but it's speckled with the same void stars as the End Blade. The eye of the axe is now tipped with gold and diamond, while the pommel has an Ender Eye. A cruelly accurate representation in how Dream's been changed by the End and Nether.

The belt contains a plethora of things. A Totem of Undying, a bottle of Dragon's Breath, several potions, a few lingering potions, several End and Nether daggers, and one simple diamond and emerald knife. Punz remembers that knife, Sam does too. They were there when Dream made it alongside the rest of the server when it was just a bunch of old close friends exploring the world's Nether update. Before the SMP opened up to other people.

Punz snaps out of his analysis and observation to see Sam, and Puffy slump back into their chairs after doing what they can about Dream's wounds. Dream seems to be asleep, he shifts and whimpers slightly in his sleep.

Punz approaches the bed and gently ruffles Dream's hair, it's still as soft as it was before, at least that hasn't changed, and whispers, "Hey, you're okay. We're not leaving you."

Dream nuzzles into his hand and it both breaks and melts his heart.

The trio decide to take shifts so that Dream isn't alone when he wakes (If he does. But they believe he will. They have to. They don't know how they'll break it to the others that Dream is dead. But maybe they won't have too since Admin commands would be passed off so someone else when Dream dies for good).

* * *

Techno was simply farming potatoes while Ranboo was tending to the dogs and Phil was working on the Netherwart farm when the trio froze and immediately dropped what they were doing. Phil gave the two frantic looks, while Techno and Ranboo looked at each other in confusion.

"How can you sense that End magic?"

"End magic? Don't you mean Nether magic?"

Phil exhales a shaky breath, catching both hybrid's eyes, "It's both. From the same source. We need to head to the SMP _now."_

The two nod, before they all quickly grab their things and head for the portal.

* * *

Despite Ranboo and Techno getting the first hint of the strange new being in the overworld, everyone else sensed it too. Just a bit later. Some sooner than others due to their natural connection to the magics of the world and their overall worldly and otherworldly experience.

Bad was quick to pin down the strange magic signature that entered the overworld, rushing to the community portal with Skeppy, Ant, Eret, and Ponk tailing behind him. George and Sapnap felt something familiar yet also unfamiliar tugging at their senses, bringing them to the central portal.

Tubbo and Fundy lead Tommy, Quackity, and Ghostbur to the central portal. Golden daggers hidden in their boots as Tubbo holds a small Dreamon book in his hand.

The many groups all meet at the portal, eyeing each other before Bad decides to break the silence.

"Phil, did you feel it too?"

Phil nods, "That's why we came here. These two sensed something was up and that it was here."

"If its something big enough to summon practically the entire server than it must be a threat, right?" Quackity asks, looking between all the power gathered here. All _siding_ together for once.

"Not necessarily," Fundy corrects, crossing his arms, "Whatever was here is powerful. But whether or not its a threat is up for debate. Considering we're all still _alive,_ we can assume that whatever or whoever it is is weakened in some way."

"Considering that both Techno and Ranboo were probably the first to sense it, it must be something with the power of both the End and the Nether combined," Tubbo adds, glancing around before his eyes fall onto Sapnap and George, who look on with tense and vaguely hopeful eyes, "George, Sapnap, who did you guys come here with?"

The duo just looks to each other before looking back to Tubbo and pointing at their companion. Bad gasps, Phil takes a shaky breath, while Tubbo and Fundy wince before glancing between each other, Phil, Bad, and then to the duo.

George swallows— or at least tries to— the lump in his throat before asking, "Is it— It's Dream, isn't it?"

"That would be the only reason you were pulled here," Phil confirms with a quiet voice, "You two didn't follow anyone like the others. You came here because something told you to."

"That- This... _string_ we all followed here is gone. But you two can still find it. If it really is Dream, you two can find it- him," Fundy requests, "What connects you three together is what let you guys know he was back in the overworld. If you can find that thread, you could lead us to him."

"Will you hurt him?" Sapnap asks, cautiously glancing over everyone surrounding him and George.

"Only if he's violent," Techno says, before glancing around the area of the portal, "And considering the lack of damage around here, I don't think we have to worry about that."

* * *

Dream remembers the two he called Mother and Father.

Mother was the Ender Dragon, but different, stronger. Maybe she was different because of all the chaos and things that started appearing on the server. Dreamons. Blood Vines. Ghosts. She was the Ender Dragon, but she was also the End personified. She was manipulative but so venomously warm, and in the cold void of the End it was the only warmth one could consistently find.

She gave him the armour and the wings. Taught him the enchantments to attach his chestplate and wings together. Did you know that Enchantments in Enchanted Books can be read and applied to those items without ever using the book up?

He was glad that he brought some water buckets and plants with him, otherwise he would've been eating only Chorus Fruit and Beetroot. Mother insisted on him including a fair amount of the End Fruit in his diet though, which only gave him a minor level of teleportation. Only able to teleport within two to three or so blocks. But it's still a surprisingly quick development considering he only spent four months under her care.

Dream learned the combat style of the Endermen Soldiers Mother trained. Apparently there's an art to teleportation combat that the normal Endermen don't have the intelligence to pull off (Dream speculates that Ranboo has the potential for the combat, but he's too young and inexperienced with his own hybrid capabilities that he never could). She also personally taught him aerial combat. How to make his Elyra from a gliding tool into a tool for flight. She taught him how to aim while in the skies. His skill with a crossbow and bow have never been better. He's a good enough shot to shot down a normal Enderman 50 meters away.

Father was the Blaze King, a Blaze much bigger and stronger than any other. He ruled over much of the deeper parts of the Nether, closer to the worldborder does his kingdom lie. Away from the players. He was a Blaze that had armies of Wither Skeletons and Piglin at his beck and call. He was harsh and cold, funny for a being made to wield fire, but in the ever burning Nether, it was the only sort of shelter from the heat Dream could find.

He gave Dream the boots enchanted and imbedded with Strider blood to allow him to run on lava. He also expanded Dream's utility belt to include more sheaths and pouches for knives and potions. He taught Dream how to brew new types of potions the likes of which players have never created without the MCMMO plugin. Resistance. Absorption. Wither.

Dream never knew water could be placed in the Nether, but only in the cold rooms Father allowed him to have so he didn't die from malnutrition on a diet of golden carrots, mushroom stew, and pork chop. Father wasn't too pleased when he found out that he planted Chorus fruit too. He only let Dream keep it if the farm was kept small, extremely so that Dream never really got the increased teleportation range from having it in his diet longer. Did you know the Crimson and Warped Fungus are both edible? Apparently so because the Blazes ate both fungi despite not really needing to eat. The Crimson fungi are spicy, while the Warped fungus is like mint.

Dream wasn't too surprised that he developed a higher resistance to fire, enough to let him swim in lava for periods of time before the heat started to feel uncomfortable. He also built a level of immunity to the Wither effect from Father's harsh training. He learned the battle style of the Piglin (it reminded him so much of Technoblade, God he misses him. Even though they weren't all too close, this slight reminder of _home_ made his heart ache, if he still had one). His skill with a sword was significantly sharpened, while his axe skills became masterful and probably better than anyone in both the Nether, End, and Overworld (he wonders if him and Techno dueled again, would he win?).

Mother and Father made him terrifyingly more lethal than he already was. They both taught him how to lethally aim and throw potions to maximize damage to the enemy and minimize damage to one's self. They both taught him new forms of combat that wouldn't have been discovered by normal players until a couple of years from now. He knows that they were both using him for their own agendas in the future, but he never left until he started feeling too much of his humanity slipping away because he _deserves_ it after all he's done to people he once called friends and maybe even family.

He deserves it after breaking Sapnap and George's hearts, betraying their trust, and throwing away their friendship. He deserves it after traumatizing, harming, and manipulating two kids who should've never been involved in his and Wilbur's damned war in the first place. He deserves it after ruining so many friendships and relationship in a place that was suppose to be him and his friends building, surviving, and having fun.

That's why, when he first disappeared into the End, he made sure to leave the discs with someone who would give it back to its rightful owners and potential repair some damaged relationships.

* * *

Dream sometimes wondered that if he went off to an Ocean Monument back home, he would find the Elder Sea Guardian and learn water combat with them. Would they be as venomously warm as mother? Or as stiflingly cold as father? Or would they be so painfully neutral that they bounce between the two like the varying temperatures of the sea?

When he went back home, he wasn't expecting the warm and comforting arms of Sam, Puffy, and Punz to be there to hold him. He wasn't expecting Sam to care after all he's done to hurt their friends. He wasn't expecting Puffy to to call him her Duckling again after all the bad he's done, after putting two kids through all that he did. He wasn't expecting Niki of all people to welcome him with open arms after he blew up the nation she loved so dear before disappearing. He half wasn't expecting Punz, because despite having a bit of Punz' loyalty, he expected him to leave like all the other friends he pushed away.

His time with Mother and Father taught him how to sleep while still being on high alert. He watched them through the Ender Eye in his sword from Mother. He watched Puffy and Sam treat his wounds, Niki whispering something about getting food and water for him (food sounded nice. He misses Niki's baking. He always had a hidden little sweet tooth, one that Niki found not long after she opened her bakery), while Punz simply stands back and observes his weapons and armour. Punz knows a powerful weapon when he sees one, but not even he can begin to imagine the power contained in the gifts from Mother and Father. The only ones Dream can see actually knowing are Techno, Ranboo, and Philza.

When Punz ruffles his hair, Dream, for the first time in nine months, goes to a true, full sleep.

If they don't hate him still when he's not injured and malnourished, then he might stay. If not... then... he might as well ease their worries about him causing trouble again... permanently. So they can all have their happily ever after, even if it's without him. As long as they're happy, he's happy. Even if it costs his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note for Xali_Ali: Why those tags on that fic btw, too many tags for characters and relationships that didn't really appear. Sorry if this seems rude but it's low-key bothering now that I'm looking at the tags and reading the fic for reference lol
> 
> [Here's the fic in question](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28219581)


	12. Immortal, Time Traveller, & Reincarnation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not inspired by anything! Just the concept that was born from Karl's new lil series on the SMP being Tales Of The Dream SMP!
> 
> Since everyone's theorizing Karl to be a Time Traveller, and Dream is some kinda immortal god, and I remember seeing a post talking about certain people being reincarnations of people from the Tales of the SMP  
> Note: I have not fully watched any of the Tales of the Dream SMP streams because procrastination
> 
> Implied Dream/George, Dream/Sapnap, Dream/Fundy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The manipulation of Tommy's exile arc is non-canon here because it hasn't been a really big plot point so far after Tommy left Techno
> 
> Semi-Inspired by  
> caydiink's [_**and the universe said be stronger than you are**_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28673475)

Dream has lived a long, long, _long_ life. He's seen towns rise and fall. People he's loved grow up and die. Friends come and go. Families wiped out by fate's cruel hands. The many names he's donned to blend in with the times. Cornelius. Ryan. Achilles. Peter. Reinhardt. Percy. Theseus.

There were no true constants in his life outside of the mask he wears, and the sun, moon, and stars above. Well, there was also Karl. Karl was an enigma that kept his long life somewhat interesting. Karl is a time traveller, somewhat immortal like him but not bound to watch the movement of time. Lucky bastard. But he's the closest thing Dream has to a true friend or family.

After seeing so many family members, lovers, and dear friends pass away and leave him cold and alone until he picks himself up to find a new one, Dream has grown a bit numb to the death. Numb to connections and emotions. Living long enough will do that to you, its what some earlier fiction on stories failed to include. The weight of seeing so many live and die, kingdoms rise and fall, all happen over and over and over again like the passing of the seasons. People know their end but you know not your own.

At some point, as if to keep him entertained longer before he tries to end it himself, his world did something strange. He tried to find the ruins of one of his old homes. He donned the name Cornelius there, with a beloved son and husband who died when the village was going mad over a killer in their midst's. The ruins that was once one of his many homes, gone without a trace. He tried to find other towns, other places where he once lived and 'died' at, only to find nothing. He thought he was finally going mad, wondering if all those lives, all those people he loved were nothing more than a figment of his crazed imagination.

He headed back to the first— at least the first for as far as he can remember, Karl also seems to agree its the first last time he saw him, where was Karl?— place he called home. There, he met George and Sapnap. And despite never meeting them before, he recognized them by some familiar sparks in their souls.

See, contrary to what myths and legends say, reincarnation isn't a straight line into a new life. Rather, a person's soul from that life is broken into pieces and all those pieces become part of their next life. Like several puzzles with different images but all made with the same cutting mold, you can mash the pieces together and they will click and make a new image. Dream has made it a little game on slow days to look at the new people in his life and see the pieces of their soul that were once part of people he knew.

* * *

In George, he saw the spark of a hunter he knew, as well as that of an old love, and a best friend.

The hunter was known to always successfully kill his marks and claim the bounty, his aim with a bow was only rivalled at the time with Dream's, who had lifetimes of experience over him.

Dream was one of his marks and he was the first mark the feared hunter never claimed, after a while it became less of a hunt and more of a little game of if the Hunter could even outsmart Dream this time. They became good friends as time went on, the hunter stopped trying to claim the bounty.

The Hunter died when claiming another bounty that was on another person's head, a person who would have a spark within another one of Dream's friends in this life.

The lover was a town guard alongside him. He loved the colour blue, said it matched the eyes of his late mother and the colour of her favourite flower, cornflowers. He died protecting his beloved town, Dream was one of the men to bury him.

The best friend was the math teacher at village school. Dream befriended him when he was hired to train the kids some basic self-defence with weapons. He died when the village was raided by savages, where Dream locked eyes with a madman that he would meet again centuries later in Wilbur.

In this life, as George, he would be a friend to Dream, and if Dream plays his cards right, maybe a potential lover.

* * *

In Sapnap, he saw a weapon smith's son, an adventurer, and a juggernaut of a warrior.

The first life Dream met him, he was the scrawny son of the town's blacksmith. With big dreams of becoming a skilled warrior, or of becoming an adventurer and exploring far off lands, or of growing skilled enough to go to the city, where he could at least watch skilled warriors fight, talk to adventurers and hear their tales. He never achieved those dreams due to his poor health, and with that, it wasn't sure he would live past his twenties.

Dream brought him to the city for one night, not explaining how he could afford the trip for him, and let him live a piece of his dream before he passed away a year later.

Dream was happy for him when he was reborn as an adventurer, exploring vast oceans, thick jungles, and colossal mountains. Fighting off various creatures and monsters, from a giant three headed white and gold dragon, to a creature so vast that it shook the Earth with its mere rise from the deep depths of the sea.

Dream was there for a lot of the more dangerous hunts, a familiar face for the adventurer that rarely visits most places twice. Being the only face the adventurer saw regularly on his lonely travels, he asked Dream after the second time Dream helped him slay a mighty beast, if Dream would like to join him.

Dream, of course, said yes. The two were close, only having the other as company for much of their travels.

He was the first mortal to learn of Dream's immortality. To say Dream was terrified when he found out is an understatement, but then he simply kissed Dream on the lips and reassured him that he wasn't going to leave him. What a lie that was because that idiot died fighting off a fierce dragon known as The Queen a year later. His dying breath was an apology to Dream, an apology for leaving him alone.

Meeting him the next notable life was not how Dream expected it to go, but it sure left an impression.

Dream is far, _far_ from being a terrible fighter. Having the experience of hundreds of lifetimes will eventually lead to one being a jack of all trades and a master of all, though Dream particularly prided himself on his combat ability, because while many things in the world change, war never does. With that being said, Dream met the Juggernaut at a fighting arena for the crowds entertainment and for prizes.

The fight between them was one of the hardest Dream had faced, he was being overpowered with sheer strength rather than technique or skill. After the fight, which Dream won by the way, the two would meet again and quickly become friends.

Apparently, that was his strategy when fighting in the arena, brute strength over clever tactics, but that doesn't mean he was far from capable of being tactical when needed. Dream would find out when other warriors from the arena, that have lost too many times to the Juggernaut, come for his head. Despite putting up one hell of a fight while being a pain in their asses, he dies.

In this life, as Sapnap, he's a friend with a particular affection for arson, an unlucky streak when it comes to pets, and be a skilled combatant and adventurer.

* * *

Dream could go on for days about who these people used to be, the many lives they've lived, and how Dream loved them during those times. But to keep it short:

Sam, a redstone innovator, a genius mechanic, a protector, and a brother.

Punz, a guard, a warrior, a fighter, a mercenary, and an ever loyal brother.

Puffy, revered pirate captain, a sister, a mother-figure, and a piece of her is reflected in the many kind souls Dream has met throughout his long life.

Tommy, a scrawny villager boy with dreams of being a hero that Dream taught how to fight, a bright-eyed trouble maker that Dream considered a little brother, and the raging passionate spark that urged rebellions against tyranny.

Tubbo, an adopted son in one brief life that lasted less than a year, a boy Dream considered a little brother that loved to explore forests and befriend all the animals in here, and the logical calm mind that was pair with the rebellion sparking flame.

Eret, a kind builder woman that helped build a village from the ground up with her own two hands, a man who loved his friends so dearly that he would run to hell and back to ensure their safety and happiness, and a ruler with a kind and loving heart that was adored by their people.

Fundy, genius inventor that helped found the creation of the redstone repeater, an amazing musician that Dream once married, and an innovator that brought forth the strangest but more wonderful advancements to the world.

Niki, a connected chain of villages' favourite florist, the beloved Baker's daughter, and a beautiful but extremely deadly and revered assassin.

Wilbur, a travelling bard who has a lot of randomly placed descendants, a travelling story teller that told high tales of heroes and hunters and villains that Dream met at one point or another, and a kind but tactical leader of rebellions long past, with a tongue made of silver and words filled with honey. Who's voice was always meant to sing instead of shout.

Bad was an oddity. Dream could've sworn he's seen a piece or so of Bad's soul before, but maybe the whole becoming a demon thing has made it so its hard to find out what and who. But he's known Bad a lot more consistently than even Karl, because Bad follows the same spark every time, the same heart. In this life, that heart is known as Skeppy. Dream never really had the chance to get close to the Demon or his heart because fate never aligned their paths to properly meet. Only pass by each other.

Technoblade is another strange one, not in the same way Karl or Bad are, but in the fact that Dream knows him. Dream only ever remembers the pieces that were once part of people he loved, but he can't for the life of him find that in Technoblade. But he can find the spark of many of his beloved's killers. The one who took his beloved Hunter away from him, as well as the lives of other loves. But in this life, as Technoblade, despite seeing all the pieces that made up the various killers of people Dream loved, he can't bring himself to hate Techno and he doesn't know why.

(Maybe its because of the hidden little pocket of warmth in Techno's soul that holds the flame of Dream's first love. The first and only love of his so far that wasn't taken away from him too soon like all the others after him. Maybe this time Dream can live with his beloved family without it being ripped away from him)

Philza is also peculiar. The man has a reputation for not dying, the Angel of Death, they call him. And Dream can see why. Phil's soul is made up of some of the most persistent people Dream remembers. Survivalists. Mad Adventurers. Fierce Guards. Loving parents. Phil is made up of people who will fight with everything they've got to survive, but as well as to protect the people he loves with his dying breath.

He's known a piece of everyone in his SMP long before many of them arrived. He just hopes that this life with them doesn't end in tragedy like all the times before.

* * *

Time seems to fly pass him after living so long. Tommy, Tubbo, and Wilbur start a drug cartel in a 'hot dog' van that turns into them founding a nation with some wonderful ideals and values and beliefs. The war for it though is a mess like all wars, some blood, some death, and a sprinkle of betrayal. He crowns Eret King, knowing that she'll do wonderful.

Quackity and a few others join the SMP. Him, Tommy, Quackity, and Tubbo make Church Prime one sleepless night. Dream stopped believing in Gods a long time ago, because he always questioned why everyone he loved died but he never could. If there was some God out there, why do they let him suffer through loving and losing so many people? Why do people never learn from the lose and death and suffering of history?

Dream built the Church Building because it made good memories with his friends. It gave them the closest thing to a place that was truly pure in the world.

But then the Election happen and everything swirls by him in a whirlwind and suddenly Wilbur's in front of him asking for TNT to rig the nation he fought so hard for. He sees the madness in Wilbur's eyes and takes a moment to remember all that's happened to the people of his SMP. The people he choose to care for in this 'life' and sees their suffering.

Tommy gave up two lives and his discs for L'manburg. Tubbo gave up two lives and had to decorate his own execution to spy for L'manburg. Quackity and Fundy are being harmed by Schlatt. Niki was so unfairly taxed and mistreated while in Manburg.

Wilbur and Tommy are planning a coup against a rightfully democratically elected leader of a election they hosted, and everyone is on their side. Ready to fight with swords and axes and bows and arrows. That was not what L'manburg stood for. That's not what made Dream give them independence. That's not what won them the war.

The people are fighting for nothing more than a piece of land, but not the values that land was founded upon. They've lost their way and are risking it at a cost that none of them are ready to pay.

A connection to an object, whether it be a disc or a piece of land is not what keeps people going. It's the memories that make those objects important is what's worth holding onto. It's the people you enjoyed those memories with are worth holding onto.

A piece of land shouldn't be worth the sanity and lives of people. It never should. Dream has seen it happen time and time again. This time, he wants to help destroy it before it destroys the people he cares for.

He gives Wilbur the TNT. He doesn't care if they hate him for it. As long as he gets to see them happy and thriving.

* * *

Another flurry of things happen, and Dream remembers the times when he decided to play villain, if only so he didn't get attached and get heartbroken as he saw people he cared about die again in a new 'life.' Tommy gets into trouble, again, and pissed off a whole series of people and L'manburg is forced to give him a trail.

Dream, and several other faction leaders, try to give Tommy an easy sentence. But Tommy's own youthful arrogance and stubborn personality make it so he gets on everyone's bad side. Dream doesn't remember what happened after, its all a blur, but the people decided to have Tommy be exiled and exiled he was.

Dream keeps him company. In the hopes of rebuilding the friendship they once had in this life. But Tommy's never been one to stay passive or stagnant and runs off to hide in Techno's basement.

Another flurry of things happen and Dream doesn't know what's happening but then the Community House is destroyed when he comes home from his far-off hidden mountain base. Something instead Dream breaks in that moment, in this life.

Then Dream, Techno, and Philza are raining hell on L'manburg. Blowing the place to bits, leaving nothing but a crater that leads all the way down to bedrock.

Dream wants to break down and cry as he sees another place he loved be destroyed before him, but he can't. Because he did this. He doesn't deserve to mourn. He doesn't deserve to finally start caring again, after too long of feeling too numb to everything. Feeling only vague flickers of emotion after he started to distance himself on instinct once the wars started.

When Tommy comes to front him, with Tubbo behind him and Quackity in the near distance, Dream plays the villain. Because that would be easier to explain and understand than the broken mess that he is.

He leaves when it's all set and done. Not to hide away until the friends of this life die or to go off and start a new life, no, he's coming back to the SMP. But he's making sure he's killable when he does, because he wants this long life of his to finally end. So he can be reborn like all the friends and family that he's loved and lost. So that friends don't have to worry about the monster he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This did not turn out how I wanted it to, funny enough this draft was first started before the fic I'm listing as an inspiration happened. This draft was first made on the 6th yall, this is old


	13. HTTYD AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've seen a couple of fanart and shut on it and I wanted to share my own take because I fuckin' love HTTYD  
> Due note: I will be using a few Dragons from the kid's spin off show, Rescue Riders but I barely know anything about it except that there was this Songwing that's a lesbian and I love and support her, and whatever the fan wikias tell me

Dream met his Speed Stinger long before his rise to fame, he named her Patches. She was fast, as fast as a Night Fury, and she was one of the newer breed of Speed Stringers, the new, supposedly, superior breed that had webbed feet and thus could run on water.

Patches didn't make her debut to the fans until MCC 8, where they allowed dragons to be brought in for the sole fact that it could potentially balance out the Power Duo that was Dream & Techno. Then Techno brought in Floof, his Night Fury.

Here's a quick summary of how each game went.

 **Parkour Warriors:** Dragon flight was disabled, but they were allowed to glide and use their wings to boost their jumps. Patches is small and nimble enough to surpass everyone on the course despite not having wings, with Dream tailing behind her halfway through after everyone gets stuck at the Ladder Neos of Pane.  
Several other teams did attempt to just simply ride their dragons but that proved to be difficult for both dragon and rider due to the balancing trouble the dragons had on the course. Any Terrible Terrors around were simply on their owner's shoulder if they weren't cheekily skipping over parts of the course, due to their smaller size letting them easily onto certain ledges.  
A fair amount of dragons got more points than their riders, which is to be expected when you have the addition of gliding and probably superior jumping capability.

 **Hole In The Wall:** The Dragons, depending on their size, were put into an alternate course. Floof and Techno were separated, but Patches and other dragons of her size were allowed to stay with the riders. Dream hears Sapnap mutter about how he should've brought the Fire Worms instead of his Nightmare, but Dream knows that Sapnap wouldn't trade this Championship with Cinnamon for the world.  
Flight was once again disabled, but this time fully so the dragons can't even glide or hover. Thankfully Patches never had any wings, and she lives till the end alongside Philza.

 **Battle Box:** It's a very clean sweep, and it's to be expected with the sheer power and skill that comes with a team that has a dragon that can freeze you in your place and a dragon that has the title of being the child of Lightning and Death. Plus the fact that they're both the fastest dragons in the world. Patches sweeps in to paralyse as many of them as possible, while the others come in for the kill.  
George's Terror comes in when Dream and George are fighting in the water and bites his ankle. Lulu, why are you like this?

 **Ace Race:** People with Tidal Class dragons are absolutely thriving. Dragons are locked to take the path like the players. Patches and Floof would destroy the competition, but alas they both keep falling into the water and get stuck for a few seconds that cost them precious time. The two dragons actually stick around each other so Patches doesn't have to get the awful paraglider that auto equips on flightless dragons, instead she hops on Floof's back and they're off.

 **Skyblockle:** It's an okay round in terms of player fights, but most of the audience keeps their eyes on the dragons. It's a mess of dragons trying to protect their owners and dragons attacking the other team.  
When Tommy comes in to try and fight Dream and Techno, Patches immobilizes him before Dream swiftly knocks him off. Tommy's Nadder, Ember, quickly leaps in to try and avenge her rider, only to be paralysed like him and knocked off the island by Floof.  
The double Nightmare duo on the Green Guardian's side makes them a lethal force that takes out Techno, Michael and their dragons.

 **Bingo But Fast:** Having fast dragons makes this a lot easier, but since everyone has free flight on this round and it leans a bit more towards luck. Their team does okay. Patches and Floof got distracted by some fish in the lake at some point which was not fun, but the pictures were trending on twitter.

 **Buildmart:** Another similar case, the dragons generally stick to their riders and help them out. Patches ate a flower when she ran over to get them.

 **Sands Of Time:** Again, the dragons stick to their owners, and while Patches does try her best to help Dream find his stuff, luck is not on his side when it comes to their directional skills this game.

 **Dodgebolt:** Intense as all fuck, especially since this is the round that has no dragons involved and is entirely player focused. But after their victory, Floof tackles Dream and starts licking him and bouncing on him excitedly like he isn't nearly two thousand pounds of pure dragon muscle. Their Winner's Statue in the hall shows them with their dragons, and their dragons even have little crowns on.

* * *

Around the time after the Election on the SMP, the dragons were allowed in. They came in with Technoblade, which only made his dramatic entrance all the better. Tommy happily greeted Ember when she appeared, riding off with her as Techno hopped on Floof and they both fled. With Wilbur's Death Song, Harmony, pining down people who might bring harm to her rider's brothers.

Eret, despite being nearby when the dragons joined, reported no signs of a few of the dragons that should've joined. Mainly the dragons of people not online, which makes sense. But he swore she saw Patches amongst them.

Over the early course of the Pogtopia arc, many people's dragons started to join in. There are rumours of a Shellfire and Submaripper living in an ocean near the Badland's coast, but most denounce it due to the fact that those two dragons would've ripped each other apart on sight and possibly flood the whole server.

When Techno was called over to meet with Dream on that mountain, him and Floof were greeted by an excited Patches, who was really happy to see her friends again.

(Off camera, Techno, Wilbur, Schlatt, and Dream discuss the possibility of getting a Deathgripper on the server for the plot. None of them are sure yet, and the concept of using a dragon that's already viewed as evil in the media as a dragon for a villain doesn't sit right with them)

The Battle of the Lake is surprisingly more balanced due to Niki's Razorwhip, Blitz, being there to defend and fight with her. Thankfully the battle isn't all too serious plotwise, or else Dream wouldn't have joined in. He knows the power Skeppy and Bad hold in their dragons, despite many thinking he's referring to the Terrible Terrors they own. 

The Festival had Tubbo's Swiftwing, Luar, go into a fit. Had it not been for Quackity's Armorwing and Schlatt's Scuttleclaw not held him back, Luar would've snatched his rider and gotten out of there and ripped apart everyone within a 20 block raidus. Techno's bloodlust is only matched by his dragon, as the two massacre everyone at the festival with fireworks and plasma. When Tommy heads for Tubbo, Ember heads for Luar.

The Battle of the Pit has not only the players beat each other with nothing but their fists, it has their dragons claw at each other until it ends with Techno and Floof on top.

* * *

The Battle for Manburg is an intense fight, one that primarily has the players in the forefront with the dragons in back due to many of them struggling to seriously fight their friends. When the TNT starts going off, the dragons all leap in to protect their riders.

Philza logged in and his Stormcutter, Elytra, appeared over the people. Swooping in to get Tommy and Tubbo out of the blast radius. Eret is caught by their Hobblegrunt, while her Songwing catches Karl because his Night Terrors were startled and scattered when the explosions started. Niki is shielded by Blitz's wings alongside Antfrost, who's Sliquifier melts some of the bigger debris barreling towards them with her acid.

As Dream's cruel cackle rings over them, Patches is huddled with Sapnap several blocks away behind Cinnamon's wings.

Wilbur is killed by Phil, and Harmony only lets out a pained and saddened cry instead of retaliation expected of a dragon. Several of the dragons move in closer to protect their own after Wilbur's slain. But then they all go into attack mode the moment everyone spots Techno preparing the Withers. The Dragons go down after less than three shots from the Wither.

(Once everyone's out of character, they all meet up to tend to and praise their dragons for such an amazing acting job. Especially Ember and Harmony. Good job you funky little actor lizards)

* * *

Much of the plot zips by without much dragon interference. Dream knows it was Tommy who burned George's house because of the magnesium fire burns that only a Nadder could produce, no one else on the server owns a Nadder to have framed him and Fundy was confirmed to have been with several people alongside his Dramillion so it couldn't have been him.

Tommy's exile is a little less lonely with Ember to keep him company and to protect him from Dream's manipulation, if only a little bit.

(The bloopers of Dream exploding himself and Tommy dying to a Zombie earned them both tired looks from their dragons. For creatures with not as many facial muscles, they sure do have expressive and judgemental eyes)

The Butcher Army's assault on Techno has them hold not only Carl but Floof hostage as well. The odds weren't much in Floof's favour due to the Butchers having Ranboo's Night Light on their side, plus Fundy's Dramillion and Tubbo's Swiftwing. Against any other combination of dragons, the Night Fury might've stood a chance.

Punz leaps in to distract the Butchers with his Zippleback and Razorwhip, while Dream gets Carl and Floof out of there before Techno makes his grand survival and escape.

The Tunnel Fight ends quickly and smoothly with Quackity getting a pickaxe through the teeth and his dragon getting a plasma blast to the rib.

When Dream confronts Tommy and Techno at the portal, Ember hisses at Dream while Patches hisses back at her in turn. But a single growl from Floof as Techno steps in causes both dragons to back down.

(When Techno accidentally ruins the scene by calling Tommy a child, the first things the dragons do is quickly nuzzle into each other to assure themselves and each other that they're still friends. A small detail that the audience absolutely eats up)

No one knows how the Community House was destroyed, but no one can deny the Nadder spikes through the remaining blocks and under the lake. How Dream got those Nadder spikes that matched Ember's orange and deep red spines is a mystery. The same magnesium fire marks from George's house are also burned into the remaining planks of the community house.

Ember and Luar fight it out as much as their owners do, but when Tommy says that the discs were worth more than Tubbo, the two dragons stopped and froze at the harsh words alongside everyone else. When Tommy tells Tubbo to give Dream the disc, Ember can be seen cuddling up to Luar in comfort. The two dragons are lightly held back by their riders when Dream starts yelling and insulting Tubbo (once the cameras are off, Dream gives the dragons extra treats and cuddles as an apology for scaring and worrying them so much during the roleplay. Dream loves spoiling the dragons and you won't hear any of them complaining)

When Dream, Techno, and Philza unleash hell on L'manburg with their dragons (and Punz's Zippleback, but character wise no one knows that, especially not after Punz made it a point during his planned betrayal that Dream also has a Zippleback on his side), they bring in an old friend from the Antarctic Empire. Armageddon the Titan Wing Snow Wraith.

Oh how _beautiful_ the destruction raining down upon L'manburg is. And no fire burns hot enough to keep the Snow Wraith at bay, especially while the others try to fend off the Withers. Everyone sees Blitz burn down the L'mantree as Niki salutes its death, his bright blue flames for all to see as he slices and burns the tree down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of who is confirmed to own each dragon and the reason for it maybe
> 
> Dream - Speed Stinger (fast, blue-green [green], relatively smol)  
> Tommy - Nadder (Arson + Stabbing Shit, also it's a dragon known to have a bit of an ego, & maybe because of Astrid I did this)  
> Sapnap - Nightmare & Fire Worms (ARSON)  
> Techno - Snow Wraith & Night Fury (Antarctic Empire) (it got the title the Unholy Offspring of Lightning & Death itself for a reason, only the best for the Blood God)  
> Niki - Razor Whip (brain connected it because of Heather from the Race To the Edge having one, pretty slick murder)  
> Eret - Hobblegrunt & Songwing (A kind & emphatic dragon that can change colours like a chameleon!) (rainbows, pretty, birb-like, and also the one from the kids' show spin-off special is a wlw/lesbian and I am not saying that ironically)  
> George - Terrible Terror  
> Wilbur - Death Song (music, contemplated giving him the Songwing but c'mon where's the spice in that?)  
> Philza - Stormcutter & Snow Wraith (Wingss, Parent Dragon Vibes [thanks Valka]) (Antarctic Empire, only the best for the Antarctic's Angel of Death)  
> BBH - Terrible Terror  
> Skeppy - Terrible Terror  
> Tubbo - Swiftwing  
> Puffy - Scauldron (cAPTAIN!! LOOK!!! *cue Pirates of the Caribbean music*)  
> Quackity - Armourwing  
> Karl - Night Terrors  
> Schlatt - Scuttleclaw  
> Ranboo - Night Light (Do I really need to say? Do I _really_ need to say anything? C'mon)  
> Ant - Sliquifier  
> Punz - Razorwhip & Zippleback {but as far as the characters know in the lore, Punz only has the Razorwhip and the Zippleback is Dream's} (Murder Dragon) (Needed to fit Zipplebacks in here somehow & I didn't want to break my brain thinking too hard. I just wanted to write about Dream having a Speed Stinger)  
> Fundy - Dramillion
> 
> If the reason isn't listed then I choose it on a whim after looking at the dragon list for too damn long


	14. Time Loop 2: Electric Boogaloo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Time loop Chapter but the loop resets much, much later and a couple of things are a little different. But unless contradicted, the rules of the previous Time Loop chapter apply

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dream/Techno
> 
>  **TW:** Referenced/Implied Physical Torture (Past), Referenced/Implied Starvation, Mild Blood, Dissociation, Referenced Scars (Past)

Techno knew the rough plan for this loop, considering the world it was going to be set in. He would come in to aid the newly founded Pogtopia, being the muscle, weapon, and one-man army. An Anarchist, bent on no proper form of government. At least not the kind that corrupts people and has them betray those closest to them when the time comes.

Him and his beloved only had moments with each other four times so far.

Their first meet up on their mountain, where Dream couldn't help but hug him and hold him again. But that moment was brief, tragically. Seeing each other in broad day light would catch too many eyes.

The second time was during the Battle of the Lake. When they shared a tender night together, with the adrenaline from the battle still rushing through their veins, or maybe it was just the fact that they were fighting alongside their beloved. Regardless, neither of them would've had it any other way.

The third time was on the 16th, hours before sunrise when the moon was still high in the sky. When Dream updates him on the character he's playing this loop, because he was unsure, not prepared for all the fighting and wars. His plan was having this server be a normal survival, something peaceful and fun with his friends. Maybe 'court' Techno when he inevitably joined. But of course Tommy's always a little spark of rebellion and unorganized chaos, and now they're here.

Neither of them really blame Tommy for it, his passion and determination and good heart will lead him to a bright future. He just needs to get his chaotic energy under control, and Dream and Techno _know_ chaos down to its fundamentals and core. There is a method to the madness, a reason to the guideless, one that Tommy will learn eventually. One that he has been taught in previous loops, in one of those loops they considered adding Tommy to the loops with them, then the next loop they taught him that they did offer him to join. But he said he wouldn't, not ever probably, in any loop, not without Tubbo.

Maybe one day, or maybe not because he's just a kid and being able to live through the time loops is like immortality and reincarnation rolled into one weird package. They've lived for what feels like centuries and never age, but after the first dozen or so loops the worlds they found themselves in to be different, along with a some context of who they are in these worlds. Not to mention the fact that they can permanently die during the loop, but come back when it resets. Techno and Dream make sure to avoid permadeath during the loops, especially after they got together (not that they didn't deeply care for each other before, and be tragically depress when the other died, leaving them alone in the loop but still).

And the fourth time was the night before L'manburg's final death. All they did was plan and cuddle, Dream acted like it would be the last time for a while. At least until the next loop. When one of them permadies in a loop, they get thrown into the next one immediately, while the other is left cold and reeling and waiting for the loop to reset. Techno hates it with a burning passion, because its often Dream who dies because he's a self-sacrificing idiot with a reckless streak.

Next time he hears of his heart, its finding out that that moron got himself locked in a prison of his own making. In the solitary confinement cell too.

Gods dammit Dream.

* * *

Techno visits the SMP with Phil and Ranboo. Phil's here to prepare a contact circle for Wilbur to ask him further on if he does want to be revived. Ranboo's just here as usual visiting his friends.

Everyone eyes him when he goes to the prison, not a single piece of armour or weapon to be found on his person. Sam makes him go through standard precaution of entering the prison, the wavers, the multiple body checks, and so on. He even had extra guards with him because this is the _Blade_ they were escorting into their prison to see _Dream,_ their most dangerous, first, and only prisoner.

None of them are trusting this, not at all. But do they want to risk the Blood God's wrath? While he has the _Angel of Death_ on his side? No, not at all. That would just be a death sentence.

* * *

This is far from the first time Dream's gotten himself imprisoned during the loops, like how this isn't the first time he commissioned Sam to make this prison. He knows how to get out, because in another loop where he was kinder and more trusted, he was given exclusive details on the prison schematics and by the looks of things when he was escorted in, everything looks the same.

Even if it isn't, he's had decades of experience with these kinds of things at this point, technically. He could make it out if he tries hard enough, and he is stubborn enough to try and dig through obsidian with only his fists.

But he knows how to cope in this prison until the time comes, he's learned to dissociate out of these things and daydream for hours on end. It's probably not good for his mental health, but hey, neither is being trapped in hundreds of years worth of time loops. When he gets restless he does some random exercises until he's burnt out the need to run into the lava again just to make sure he's alive and functioning.

He expected Tommy to visit, Tommy told him that he was going to. Though, he didn't ask about how to revive Wilbur. The kid's probably still reeling from the victory and sudden power he has over Dream. But he has had it in previous loops when Wilbur, not Ghostbur, speaks to Tommy and Tubbo after they imprison Dream. Sometimes he wants to come back, other times he doesn't.

("Who do you miss the most?" Tommy had asked, and Dream knew that his character's answer would've been no one or everyone. But in his heart of hearts, the answer is Techno. Always. Even in loops where they tried to be with others for whatever plot they've weaved, Dream's heart still yearned for Techno.

Dream doesn't answer that question as he remembers his beloved is still out there, knowing that he's going to do whatever it takes to break Dream out. The plot be dammed. Especially when he learns Dream's on his last canon life [a part of Dream knows that those deaths to Tommy in the Bunker felt different from the canon death's he's had before. Maybe he doesn't _have_ a life limit this loop])

He was mildly surprised when Puffy visited, and God she's what the server needed. An adult who could take proper accountability and hold people accountable for their mistakes while giving them the chance, kindness, and patience to grow. In other loops, Dream and Techno have been alongside her and Niki in doing that when the universe of the loops switched to something far crueler than the SMP.

He half-expects some of his old... friends to visit him, he expects their angry words and shouts, but not the fact that they actually bothered.

He wasn't expecting Techno to visit him, not really. But he doesn't really have the best track record when it came to prisons. Especially in the last few loops he did end up in them.

* * *

They were both princes of rivalling and warring kingdoms, but then a third party, the Nation of Manburg, took him prisoner. It wasn't his own kingdom that rescued him, it was Techno's. It was the Antarctic Empire that saved them from their prisons. The royal family made it a point to personally help the prisoners recover, for some it was helping them find their families, for others it was their recovery until they could go back to them on their own.

Techno found him and took a particular 'interest' in him and personally aided him with his recovery (Techno's eyes flashed with guilt, rage, and worry when he first saw him. He probably wasn't a good sight to see. All pale and boney with the light in his eyes more gone than not). Dream was aided in his recovery and helped to build his muscle strength back until he was back in fighting condition (Techno missed his favourite sparring partner).

Everyone could see the blossoming romance, so most everyone turned a blind eye when Techno snuck him into his room, the most he would get is a snarky comment from Techno's guards (not that he needed them, but protocol required him to have them). The two of them would cuddle and share sweet and tender words. Dream doesn't tell him he's also a prince in this life, because where's the fun in that? He lets his beloved assume that he's nothing more than another victim civilian that he'll have to tragically part from once he's healed enough.

When it's revealed that Dream has a throne of his own, the war between their kingdoms end in their union. There was a complicated dinner about Dream's identity and love of Techno, but they're nothing if not stubbornly determined. They would get married and there's nothing their families could do about it except disown them or deal with it.

* * *

The loop before that that had Dream in a prison was when they were both the respected powers of the two factions of a rebellion. Techno was part of the leading army to fight, while Dream was the one led to protect and gather and hide the civilians. They were both married in this loop, long before the rebellion took place. With rings imbedded with just a bit of magic to let them feel the warm and the beating of their lover's heart through it. Just to let them know that their beloved was still okay and alive.

Dream was captured by the Tyrannical Kingdom and personally tortured by the King. When Techno found him, he had so much blood covering him and still flowing out of him that they weren't sure he was going to make it. There were no respawn mechanics in this loop. If he died he would've not seen his beloved until this loop was over. And who knows how long that takes, because different worlds, different loop lengths. They're not in the SMP where all of this mess happens within a 2-3 year time span. Here, the loops last for 5, nearly 7 years until its over. Techno doesn't know if he could've survived without his beloved for that long, a part of his traitorous mind whispering to him that he's not coming back when the loop resets.

Techno stayed by Dream's side the whole time during his recovery, immediately flashing their matching rings (Dream hid his in his hair, that clever bastard) to make it so no one but the medics bothers them. To say that Techno came in craving blood when he felt the ring on his finger grow cold, and the beating of his lover's heart grow erratic to eerily still, is an understatement. Techno stormed the castle with the intent of personally making the King's last few moments a living hell for hurting his Dream.

This seemed to be a loop that would end on its shortest possible term that they've noted. Once Dream woke up and recovered well enough to do things, Techno would count each and every single scar Dream had. Surprisingly gentle hands barely grazing the larger ones. The loops after ones where Dream gets scars like these have Techno's hands mindlessly trace over where the scars were.

* * *

Techno was expecting the worse when he walked on the moving platform to his beloved. But physically Dream looked find, he looked fed and unharmed, but then he saw his eyes. They were cold and dark, only a vague flicker of what remains was there. The moment the lava was back down and shielding them from the guards' view, the first thing he did was tackle his beloved. Who gladly, almost desperately, met his embrace.

The two hold each other for who knows how long before they sit down on the floor against a wall and cuddle on the floor. Simply relishing in each other's hold.

It's been two months or so since they reduced L'manburg to nothing more than a giant crater. Two months since they last saw and held each other. Over a month since Dream's been alone here for in this dark, cramped box.

He knows this isn't the first time Dream's been locked in here, it's not the first time Techno has visited him, but every time he sees those bright green eyes dim in a way that's lonely, sad, and afraid, it scares him. Worries him. Makes him want to destroy the world for the man in his arms.

"I'm getting you out of here," Techno says, his tone soft yet serious, laced with the fear and pain in his heart from seeing his beloved like this, "I'm turning in that favour and we're both getting far away from the SMP and wait until the next loop. We'll have a little cottage somewhere with my pets, just you and me."

"What if they need us?" Dream mumbles, finally extracting himself from where he buried his head in Techno's shoulder, if only a tiny bit.

"Techno and Dream or the two most powerful combatants on the server? Are they going to need us as _people_ or us as _weapons_?" Techno snaps, half in-character and half not.

Dream just looks up at him with tired doe eyes, and asks, "Can we at least give leave Phil or something a note in case they _do_ need us?"

Goddammit, why is he such a simp for Dream? Right, because he married the guy for a reason.

"Fine."

Before he leaves, he burns one of the spare books Dream had and swaps it for a copy of one of Dream's notebooks that he's brought with him through every loop since he first made them. It's a book detailing notes about the versions of their friends from all the different loops, a reminder of their tale and who they were. The one he brought Dream was hidden in a pocket on his cloak, since anything really attached to clothing isn't considered armour and thus doesn't drop upon death. This notebook is of the Tommy notes Dream wrote. Tommy's been a lot of things in these loops, but he's always somehow involved in the conflict because he's a little bundle of trouble.

He also leaves his cloak to Dream, because he looks adorable in it. The soft blues complimenting his softening muscles and features due to the lack of proper exercise he can get in this tiny cell.

Dream gives him a quick peck on the lips before he calls out to the guards that Techno's done with his visit.

* * *

There are several ways the prison escape could go. Techno could unleash the Wither Storm he learned how to make during one of the weirder worlds they looped into. Or he could do some stealthy sort of break in and escape. He could try for stealth and fail (on purpose, because after this many loops he knows the prison's layout too well) and then leave a bloodbath in his wake as he gently carries his beloved out.

But he's a bit done with the dramatics when Dream's second month in the prison arrives. He simply steals Sam's key when he's fast asleep and walks in, he knows all the codes and buttons into the prison from Dream's notes and all the other times he's visited him in the other loops.

It's the dead of night when he walks in, Sam and the other guards are exhausted from cleaning up all the Blood Vines surrounding the server. Techno knows for a fact that if he just left Dream here, he either would've gotten Techno to break him out or bided his time until the Crimson Egg had consumed so much of the server and Sam lets him out because he needs as many people as possible to combat it.

Him and Dream disappear without a trace or a sound. No one even notices they're gone until Puffy visits Dream a week later. By then they're both settled in Dream's hidden house far off in a place no one knows where. They left Phil a note that leads to a series of riddles and puzzles to get to them, but only if they're aid is absolutely required. They stole Punz' Shulker box so that they could take as much of Techno's stuff with them as possible. They gave him a netherite block they stole from the prison as a payment of sorts, so it's a fair trade.

They're going to enjoy the next two years this loop has left in secrecy. Living in a nice house together with a small farm outside. Not the first time they've done it. Scrap whatever story they've weaved in favour of a quiet life when things get too intense or worrying for one of them.

At least, that was the _plan._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason Techno gave Dream that notebook is so he has something to read as well as write in without much inspiration. Instead of just dissociating 24/7  
> Also he leaves his cloak because of a lot of reasons, Dream looked too cute for him to have the heart to take it back, Dream looked cold, he wanted to leave something more personal with Dream, etc


	15. Dream's Gone Crab Rave- Wait what?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream's Gone Crab Rave?! But why can't he perma die in prison? What does it mean to lose a canon life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at 1am all at once

'Canon' deaths, as the SMP has dubbed them, naturally feel different from normal deaths. When someone loses a 'canon' life, the entire server feels a stab to their heart, or a chill up their spine, or a burning in their soul.

No one really paid any mind to that until Tubbo was executed and everyone felt a fiery explosion of pain in their being. Then later on when Wilbur was slain, the pain was so much worse, probably because it was his final life taken.

Everyone felt the stabs in their heart when Dream was slain by Tommy with Techno's Axe, and Tubbo with his own crossbow, but none acted on it. Simply content to let him die after all the pain he's caused.

(But isn't this what they wanted? Someone to play the villain in their stories? So that there's someone clear to blame on everything that goes wrong? So that none of them ever had to deal with the painful reality that they're part of the problem?)

He's tossed into the prison with a lie, when in truth that the server will die if he does. He's the admin of this world, and the server op _would_ go to the next person on the list but... Dream never made the list. Because the people he deemed responsible enough were becoming too damaged and corrupted, and those that weren't were _children,_ and even the few that could were not made to be server admins.

* * *

Dream's been in the prison for a year now, with far and few visitors in between. Everyday passes by in the matter of seconds, he's long since grown numb and stopped trying to entertain himself after three months in solitary confinement. Even the food drop offs by Sam have stopped bringing him the sliver of something different other than obsidian walls.

He looks to the lava longingly, knowing that if he jumps in to feel a semblance of warmth through dying in there, he'll come back to the cold reality of his mistakes (and that of others, but no, they can't make mistakes because Dream's the villain, the cause of all of it. Right?).

But today he feels a shift in the universe that tells him that its his time to die. Painful, sorrowful relief floods him now that he's free from the hell of his own making (now, you're just being modest. After all, wasn't it Wilbur who first dragged children to war?). He jumps into the lava and feels himself dying for good and he weeps.

Despite the burning of his skin, he still feels so cold inside.

**Dream tried to swim in lava.**

* * *

Everyone on the server read that message as a violent burning sensation flooded their senses. Overheating to the point that it felt burning, but despite the burning they felt an aching, ice cold stabbing through their hearts.

Everyone takes a moment to process the pain before they process the message that flashed before them.

Dream's dead. Dream's gone for good... and he's never coming back.

Oh gods. What have they done?

* * *

"stcejbus layol ym, em morf tnaw uoy od thaW?" It whispers to Bad, Ant, and Punz, who all numbly stare at the death message.

Bad snaps out of it and swiftly covers his mouth as he starts sobbing. Ant falls to his knees and cries as he stares at the cold hard ground. Punz continues to look at the message, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. The Crimson's whispers are silent in their heads as they grieve. For the first time since the Crimson fully took hold of them, Punz and Ant had their blue eyes back and Bad got his red back.

This isn't what they wanted. They wanted to bring unity and peace to the server, not have their friend be dead.

* * *

Tommy and Tubbo grieve together as Puffy and Sam try to comfort them. They don't know why they feel sad over the death of a man that's caused them so much pain. But maybe it's the part of them that knew it wasn't always like that. That Dream had, once upon a time, been their friend. Before the nations, before the wars. They had been friends with him, and now he's gone.

This is what they wanted, but not like this. They wanted him gone, but did they want Dream gone or did they want the monster Dream became to be gone?

* * *

Techno, Philza, and Ranboo all take a moment of silence to grieve for him before going on with their day. Later that night, Ranboo would go into his panic room in the SMP and speaks to the voice in his head that sounded like Dream.

He comes to the realization that Dream's fall was his own fault, but also their own in a way. Things are never as simple as they seem. Dream was not Icarus who flew too close to the sun, he was Belleraphon. He fell to his own hubris, yes, but his hubris was not just his own making or the mistake of arrogant youth. It was a series of things that lay the fault on everyone around him and himself.

Ranboo writes a note in his book: _Be better. Own up to your own mistakes and hold others accountable for theirs accordingly. Let people grow. Let them change. Give them the chance to be better than they are. I don't want to see another ~~friend?~~ person die like Dream did._

Meanwhile Techno would more appropriately mourn for his friend with silent tears and a longing look at a photo of their Championship victory together. Phil would sit on the roof and simply look at the stars, the cold creeping on his skin felt like nothing in comparison to the burning and aching cold Dream left them all with.

This shouldn't have happened, but someone wanted it and the universe provided.

* * *

Sam and Puffy finally let themselves grieve hours after the kids go to sleep. The two talk about what happened and why and how they can do their best to make things better after everything.

Dream became the villain of everyone's stories because that's the only thing that could unite the server. A common enemy. Never a common friend or cause. An enemy. It's how they all gathered to defeat Schlatt, because none of them really liked him in the end. Dream made it a point to be more hated than Schlatt, because the more personal, the more united.

Dream let go of his friends because they didn't deserve to be with the villain of this story the history books will repeat and butcher and fuck up as centuries pass by. They deserved better, and better wasn't with one of their best friends.

Sam plans on destroying the prison. Plans on making it a community open deconstruction project to try and unite the server. Puffy plans on gathering stuff to fix up all the creeper holes on the SMP and making it an open repair project, because something non-destructive would be good for everyone right now.

They also plan a talk or few with the other members on the SMP, because everyone here is damaged, really damaged. But they're not all beyond repair. They'll stick around here and make things better in the way Dream so desperately tried to.

This shouldn't have happened. This isn't what either of them wanted. But the world is cruel and made it so, and now they have to do their damned best to make it better.

* * *

In a plains far, far away from the SMP, two friends felt their best friend die and all they do to grieve is cry and mourn. Regret planted in their hearts for not trying harder to reach out to the friend that, once upon a time, would fight the world and more for them. Because maybe, if they tried harder, they could've saved him. They could've stopped him from becoming the monster everyone hated so deeply.

When the two return to the SMP a week later, they're met with the pained and tearstained faces of friends and ex-enemies alike. Dream did it. He united the server.

And all that it took was his death and their collective mourning.

This shouldn't have had to happen to make people be friends again. To make them put aside politics, power, objects, pets, and nations in favour of their friends, of the people.

* * *

A man with tired green eyes watches his server unite for the first time in so long, before a gloved hand pats his shoulder.

"Come on," Wilbur says, "You can see them again when they're truly united."

Dream snickers, "And when will that be?"

"Eventually, and you know it."

"Mhm. I do. I just wished it didn't take this cruel twist to cause it."


	16. Random Prompts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompts & Ideas what have been sitting as chapters in this fic's drafts for ages

Plucking My Own Strings - Bunker Alternate (this has 2 versions in the work but the in between bits are making it really fucking long)

Tubbo sees that Dream's blood if a void black when Tommy takes his first life. Things happen and its quickly revealed that Dream hasn't been Dream in too long, but is rather a Dreamon named Nightmare possessing Dream's body.

During the confrontation of the Dreamon, Tubbo takes charge in a way that he was never allowed to. Denying even Tommy the spotlight of confronting the Dreamon.

Nightmare says something or does something that ends with Tubbo shooting him with Dream's crossbow.

Things happen and Dream snaps back into control long enough to beg Sapnap to kill him. It's a terrifying parallel to how Wilbur begged Phil to kill him, not that any of them would know that until after the fact. Whether because Phil sees it happen or when Sapnap comes to Phil one night and asks how he coped with killing a loved one.

Dream dies and is greeted by Wilbur, not Ghostbur, in the after light. Wilbur says something about a space opening for Tommy in the afterlife, but he guesses he was wrong on who that spot was for.

Before he's killed, Dream does manage to tell Tommy and Tubbo that he's so proud of them. He also internally preens with pride when Tommy and Tubbo take one of his lives.

* * *

Winged Dream - Canon Divergence From the Main One (Inspired by Sad-ist)

Dream has a default soft spot for Wilbur & Tommy & Techno in this because in another life they could've been brothers. He spots Phil with his wings out one day and offers to help heal the damaged wings, since there is still a chance for them to be saved.

The have healing sessions where the two just talk, Phil only agreed to healing sessions if Dream had his mask off. Dream has contacts on during all of the sessions.

Phil notes the soft spot Dream has for his sons, but doesn't comment. Tommy isn't exiled, he only gets community service. The reason he gave Wilbur the TNT was because L'manburg was no longer representing the values and beliefs it was founded upon, and that Tommy and Tubbo were holding onto a piece of land with no meaning outside of memories and choosing the place where those memories happened over the people those memories happened with. Tommy and Tubbo are smart kids with incredibly bright futures but they're still so young and naïve.

Phil's healing sessions are moved to a base near Techno's house not long after Techno's failed execution. Dream watched the Butcher Army come for Techno, he even gave the hybrid some potions before they arrived.

Tommy & Tubbo still put discs and nations and objects over people, over each other. When Dream, admittedly, overreacts and builds up the obsidian walls before the festival because he knew of Quackity's planned execution of him. During a meeting on taking down the walls, Tommy has the fucking gall to bring out Spirit's corpse and use it against Dream, who snaps and says things he doesn't fully mean in the way most would read it as.

"It's... it's true that I've lost care for material attachments. I don't care if this sword, axe, crossbow, or anything gets destroyed. I care about the people. I care about George and Sapnap. I care about everyone on my SMP. I created this place as a place for my friends and I. I dethroned George because Techno already attempted to take one of his lives, and Tommy griefed his house, and I didn't want him to get hurt. He also didn't want to be involved in the drama happening around here in the first place so I removed his kingship because he didn't want it to begin with. I said I didn't care because I was angry and hurt that _Tommy_ of all people would use a pet's corpse against their owner. I know he's young and stupid and has so much to learn but still- I- It _hurts_ to see a piece of something you cared about hanged in front of you but knowing you can never reach it. Never go back to a time before everything went wrong. Not truly."

Phil knows there's more to that statement but doesn't pry.

* * *

Winged Dream - Canon Divergent Vers 2 (The Less Fleshed Out Version, but its more of a rewrite of the Techno Fight & Wilbur Blast to match better with the Sad-ist animatic. IN that those two events happen at the same time. Where Techno's already getting hounded and attacked before Phil joins)

Basically, Dream & everyone's collective reaction at seeing Phil's freshly damaged wings.

Also Phil canonically hacks into the server and Dream notices but doesn't do shit because fuck that's his dad, who's here for his adopted sons. Also yes Phil is at spawn still when he logs in but swiftly and quietly flies to the button room undetected, Dream knows this.

He also doesn't kill Wilbur in this, only knocks him out. And he might recognize Dream when he analyses the crowd, since Dream's mask is broken enough to show one of his eyes.

* * *

Birdy Dream - Basically Winged Dream but its a whole ass canon divergence from the beginning inspired by the detail in the first canon divergence Winged Dream I mentioned early

Dream has a soft spot for Wilbur, and Tommy. As they are his father's adopted sons. Despite his father forgetting him against his will, Dream still silently considers them all brothers. With that in mind, the wars and such all play out a bit differently.

He was content to live his life as normal as he could with the parents he loved so dearly having forgotten ~~and replaced~~ him. He didn't hear from them until news about he infamous Blood God's father having died in a 5 year hardcore world. After that Dream _lightly_ researches on Phil and learns about his adopted brothers. Wilbur, adopted a year after Dream was erased from their minds. Tommy, three years after Wilbur, four years after Dream. Techno was unofficially adopted in as a teen, before Phil started his 5 year hardcore world.

Techno and Tubbo aren't really Phil's sons. Techno is just a friend that just so happen to be young enough to be Phil's son so Phil just fathers him on instinct. Tubbo's that friend that might as well be a part of the family.

Only sides with Schlatt because that bitch is a snitch. Also, Eret gets their redemption arc fully written out. Niki gets a badass arc. The Badlands are established much sooner and aid the two. Fundy's arc is also expanded upon.

Wilbur doesn't really go nuts, he just loses hope and is really fucking tired. L'manburg is not the land they're trying to reclaim. It's the people, the memories, and the values are what made L'manburg L'manburg.

Techno notices someone watching him and the other Pogtopians, he notices the quiet, gentle but powerful flap of wings and some overly large feathers he finds around the area. But he doesn't comment nor does he pry or try to find out. But he figures that it's either George or Dream, most likely Dream since George sleeps through everything. But that's none of his business to question or ask.


	17. Dream No More - Prison & Bunker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon Divergence from the previous chapter of the same name
> 
> Dream never dies during Doomsday because that arrow was never shot at Phil's head, so he continues on until he's imprisoned in the jail he commissioned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "It" used to describe whatever monster Dream believes he's become
> 
>  **TW:** Derealization (?), Dissociation (?), Depersonalization, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied Mild Violence
> 
> Note: Niki & Jack aren't trying to murder Tommy here, Ranboo isn't sleep walking and helping Dream, the Egg isn't really an issue, and Quackity's capitalism scheme is null and void because he's just here vibin with his two fiancés

Nightmare noticed it becoming less guided in its actions. How after L'manburg's destruction, it just wandered the world it worked so hard on for Dream's friends. How there were faint flickers of Dream snapping back to admire a flower or an animal. How it would leap off of stupid heights, not for the shake of speed or intimidation, but for the fun of it.

The week away from the SMP was good for it, because Nightmare saw hope. Hope that Dream can still be saved. Hope that his beloved vessel won't die a tragic and lonely death. Hope that Dream would finally stop trying to please people and be the villain just because _their_ stories needed him to be one.

But good things don't last on this damned SMP and it summons Tubbo and Tommy to the mountain of a recently built base. It told Punz it was going to do something to make everyone hate it. Only Nightmare knew its true intent.

Destroy the community house. Make a base made to contain people's most beloved pets and items. Toy with Tommy and Tubbo, children too young to have gone through what they did, a fact that everyone's slowly started to realize.

Sneak in extra payment in Tommy's chest for Punz. Plant ancient debris right in Tommy's mining path, because while Tommy is more than ready to start doing things for himself, it knows well enough that the boy has a long way to go still.

Have them come over to the portal and either kill it or toss it into the prison to rot.

It was honestly hoping for the former, but Nightmare somehow grabbed control for the first time in months and managed to beg them not to kill it with the promise of bringing the dead back to life.

Despite the mask being destroyed, revealing its face for all to see for the first time in years, ever since it stopped being Dream, no one says a thing. None of them comment or even react to his lifeless eyes and pale skin, or the face that's clearly too thin for someone so strong. Not even Sapnap, Bad, Ant, Punz, Callahan, Ponk, or Sam commented on it. People who knew Dream ever since they were all young didn't bother commenting or even reacting in the slightest at his clearly deteriorating body.

Nightmare almost wants to leave his vessel for the soul purpose of slaughtering them all for not even bothering to ever ask _why_ Dream became the monster it started believing itself to be. That none of them ever really cared enough to try and reach out. That none of them ever thought about why it was doing this other than the fact that it's the villain and evil and nothing more. That all of them are so self-absorbed as to have forgotten basic empathy and human decency.

The only person not at fault is Ranboo, Hbomb, Ponk, Jack, and Callahan. Ranboo's still too much of a fresh and unfamiliar face, who didn't really have much of a relationship with Dream before it took over. Hbomb and Ponk have been off doing their own things and generally stayed out of the drama. Jack's been off server for months until the Battle for Manburg. And Callahan's been off doing his own thing and helping manage the server.

Everyone else, Nightmare might spare with less painful deaths. The more they were involved or knew Dream, the more painful their deaths. Though, he can't fault the children either. All too young to have the worldly experience to even know how to handle something like this, but also the lack of being truly close enough with Dream to notice the changes and think of something being off.

Really, they're all too young to have gone through what they did. Nightmare may love his chaos, but this- this isn't chaos! This is pain and self-destructive. This is trauma and hatred. This is the not the madness with a method, organized chaos he adores causing. Because true chaos requires no real pain.

* * *

Sapnap noticed. He noticed how Dream started to change. Change so much more than he knew Dream could in that amount of time. The Dream he knew would never say the things he did at the walls. The Dream he knew would never steal Beckerson or Mars with ill intent, because he knew how much they meant to George and Sapnap. The Dream he knew would never destroy the home he helped build with them. The Dream he knew is as stupidly passionate, determined, stubborn, and caring as Tommy, hiding it behind a wall of confidence and a playful nature.

So why did he ever believe that Dream truly meant what he said at those walls? Why did he believe that Dream didn't care for them anymore? Why did he simply believe that Dream no longer cared? Why didn't he try harder to save their friendship, to try and talk to him and see why his oldest friend had changed so much?

As he escorted Dream to the prison alongside Sam, and Punz, he noted how Dream looked. His hair was a lot darker than Sapnap remembered, it looked a lot less lively and somewhat fluffy than it normally did. His eyes were pale, sunken with deep bags underneath. His face is just as pale, boney and scrawny too. He wonders, if he touches Dream's arm, would he feel the usual muscle underneath Dream's loose hoodie? Or would he feel the skin and bone Dream looks to have become?

He doesn't get an answer as Sam puts Dream into the prison. The solitary confinement cell specifically.

* * *

It spends most of its days in the prison thinking of nothing. Not memories. Not of what ifs. Not of what could've been. It only thinks when it needs to act and speak to Sam when he drops off food.

Sometimes, it gets fidgety and plays with the clock. Sometimes the clock rolls out of its hands and into the lava, causing Sam to have to come in to replace it. Not that it really matters, because time means nothing to someone who's never going to count the days.

The occasional visits are nice, but it knows it doesn't deserve it.

It sometimes feels flickers of Dream coming back, when it looks at the silly assignment books Tommy left. When it sees the faint flicker of fondness in Sam's eyes when he comes over to replace the clock. When it writes aimlessly in the books it was given to fill out in boredom.

It won't mind staying here as long as they need it to be until they finally kill it. But it deserves to rot in here rather than be embraced by the sweet release of death. It deserves worse, honestly. Worse than the dark isolation of the prison. Because it doesn't deserve just the mental and emotional suffering that comes with the isolated darkness. Maybe that's why it jumps into the lava wall so often, because it's the closest thing it can get to being given a more appropriate punishment.

* * *

Something in the world shifted, recently. Something that gave Nightmare enough power to partially exit it's body and roam around the SMP. Not able to interact with things, but enough to see and feel. Spectator mode, he calls it. He can choose to be seen or not, but for the sake of himself he's trying to not get seen.

He spends much of his time walking around the SMP and beyond, seeing everyone living and thriving. He goes back to it, and projects his memory of the SMP into its mind. Giving it a taste of freedom. He starts running around and jumping around like Dream used to do, just so he can give that experience and memory back to it. The memory brings in more flickers of Dream. That flame that he thought that died long ago is slowly flickering back, but the coals its on are damp with pain and self-hatred.

Nightmare walks around at night visible, knowing everyone inside and sleeping at the hour he goes out to walk. Mobs don't bother him because he's practically a spirit. Besides, he's a Dreamon, and monsters know better than to mess with one showing itself. So he can wander around the SMP without a hitch.

That is until he stumbles across a new building that catches his eye and decides to explore it. When he enters, everyone's gaze quickly locks onto him. Turns out its the opening night of the Biginnit Hotel. Fuck.

Luckily for him, at least, their weapons are all in weapon racks near the entrance. But Techno does look more than ready to chuck that butter knife through his skull. Sam and Puffy stand protectively in front of the children. Everyone else shuffles either further away from him or closer to their weapons.

"Uh, hello? Hi," Nightmare awkwardly says. Everyone freezes at the sound of his voice. Right, he sounds like Dream right now, albeit with a slight demonic echo underneath his voice no matter his tone.

He hears Tubbo take a deep breath before moving to the front of the crowd, "What do you want, Dreamon? I thought we got rid of you."

Nightmare snickers bitterly, both at the question and at Tubbo's overly serious tone, "You technically did. You basically locked me inside of Dream, letting me do nothing but watch as he fell apart and became the villain all of your stories so desperately craved to thrive. I just came here to look around so I can give it something to do while trapped in that box, wasting away."

"'It?'" George asks, with a raised eyebrow but a sharp glare behind his goggles. At this point, everyone's equipped with a fork or butter knife of some sort as a weapon. It seems none of them heard what he first said.

"'It' as in whatever monster you made Dream believe himself to be and become. And Quackity—" Quackity promptly shuts his mouth at being singled out— "Before you throw a fit, let me fucking speak." He shifts his mask to the side, revealing blade and red eyes, "All of you wanted someone to pin blame on for all of you petty little problems. Someone to point at as the true source of it all. And guess what? Dream decided to become that fucking reason. It's been playing a game of chess with all of you as nothing more than pieces. Except, instead of aiming for victory, it aimed for a lose that result in all of you bastards uniting for once. Because the only thing that brings you fuckers together around here is violence and common enemy."

"So," Tommy says, being the main character of the story par usual, "Dream wanted this?"

Nightmare growls, causing everyone to flinch at the deep noise, "Don't call it Dream. Because whoever is rotting in that cell now isn't Dream. It stopped being Dream the minute it stopped referring to itself as Dream and thought of itself as the monster and unwilling villain in everyone's stories."

"How do we know you aren't lying?" Fundy suddenly says, causing all eyes to turn to him.

"Why in the HELL would I lie about this? What do I have to gain from it? A get out jail card? Then you morons can just exorcise me!"

"Then why are you telling us this then?" Quackity asks with a tad too much smugness for Nightmare's patience.

"Are you really that self-absorbed into thinking that I would actually risk myself being exorcized just to tell you this? Are you really that stupid to actually, genuinely believe that _Dream_ would do the things he did?" Nighmare snaps, both literally and verbally, causing a few to flinch at his sharp teeth, "And before any of you smartasses can _dare_ to comment, I'm talking to the people who _actually_ knew Dream. Or at least say they do."

Everyone's gaze filters between Sapnap, George, Bad, Ant, and all the friends of Dream that knew him since he was a preteen. All of them have varying looks of guilt and contemplation on their faces. A few of them squirm under the watchful gaze of the others, before the crowd turns to each other and simply thinks and wonders how well _do_ they know Dream?

* * *

Sapnap's desperately trying to grasp at straws to blame the Dreamon for Dream's corruption, but the Dreamon's already confirmed that he hasn't been in control since Tubbo and Fundy apparently failed to exorcise him. His mind replays some of the words the Dreamon's said. About how Dream's falling apart, how he believes himself to be the very monster they painted him as, how he _became_ that monster because that's what they wanted, right?

Sapnap wonders when he lost his friend because of this, maybe it was when he decided to side with everyone else instead of holding onto the seemingly hopeless thread of believing in Dream.

L'manburg painted Dream as a tyrant. Manburg had him as their trump card and military might. After that, did Dream spiral further down or was he already so far deep in that he didn't care?

The Dreamon said that Dream became the villain in their stories because that's what their stories needed to thrive, that the only thing uniting people on this server was violence. A common enemy.

He's not wrong, far from it. It was the general distaste of Schlatt that had the SMP faction turn around and side with Pogtopia. It was the carefully cultivated hatred It sprouted in them for all of them to be here in the hotel, united as friends and nothing more. All hatchets buried.

Sapnap swallows, throat suddenly dry, "No." Everyone's gaze snaps to him, the first voice to speak after several painful minutes of contemplation and silence, "I don't think Dream would, and as much as I wanted to believe that Dream genuinely did those things out of malice... I could never believe him saying he didn't care about us. But, I need to know. Why?"

Nightmare sighs, all the anger and fight in him suddenly gone and replaced with sorrow, "It did it only to try and fulfill the last wish it had when it was still Dream. Have the server be united again. Choosing each other instead of nations and objects. And... it looks like it worked, didn't it?" Nightmare says with an empty laugh, vaguely gesturing to the hall of people, all gathered together to celebrate with their friends.

* * *

After several moments of silence, where people just look at Nightmare and open their mouths to speak before deciding against it, Nightmare leaves and goes back to his vessel. He doesn't show it the Biginnit Hotel and what came after he entered, only the beauty of the server at night. Of the recently rebuilt community house. Of the Badland's animal sanctuary. Of Snowchester. Of party island. Of Foolish's temple. Of Hannah's roses. Of the SMP.

He can feel Dream and not the monster he's turned himself into physically smile at the images as he drifts off to sleep. There's still hope, and Nightmare will hold onto it for as long as he can until those idiots realize their mistake and fix it or until Dream dies as he lived before his death. Trying to make the people of his SMP happy, even at the cost of himself.


	18. HTTYD AU Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More on the HTTYD AU! Might make a chapter focused on TTOTSMP at some point!

Ranboo's Night Light, Nugget, is there to comfort Ranboo after his panics in the panic room. But sometimes she can't do anything because Ranboo doesn't let her. Just like her rider, she's relatively passive and tries to be on friendly terms with everyone.

During Ranboo's non-roleplay streams, he and Nugget simply vibe and its great. Usually this is when people are reminded that it's all a roleplay, especially when Nugget spots someone and runs over to tackle them to cuddle them. That someone usually being Dream, the server's local Dragon Whisperer. Who is absolutely adored by every single Dragon that's met him and known him.

It's one of the reasons Dream allowed the dragons to be on the server and involved with the roleplay, because he managed to form strong enough bond with them so that they don't actually kill him during the roleplay. It was also why his character was leaning more towards being the story's villain, because of the lesser risk. And the fact that he would rather he get hurt than his friends.

Dream and Ranboo heavily confirm both on and off stream that no, Dream's dragon whisperer abilities will _not_ be used in the story. It's already hard enough to get them to pretend to hate him, much less their own riders.

With that in mind, here's how the confrontation at the Bunker went down.

* * *

The battle between the Troublesome Two and Dream is an interesting one, with the hesitant fighting between their dragons being a background detail (they couldn't convince them to play-fight furiously enough and keep an eye on their rider's, especially with how silent the flight was for Ember and Luar).

When Dream taunts them with the fact that it's a fake disc, the dragons snarl at him, before Patches hisses, causing them to back down but still glare at Dream.

During their tour of the Bunker, Tubbo asks, "Why aren't there cells for the dragons?"

Dream makes a full stop, and slowly turns around to look directly at them. The room seems to chill at the question and Dream's cold... something. He never answers, simply stares at them until they change topics and the scene continues.

The Cavalry arrives and their entrance with the dragons could only be matched by Techno's entrance to the server with them.

Three Smothering Smokebreaths of Hbomb's come in with Punz to make his entrance dramatic as all hell, before Sapnap's Fireworms slither in to illuminate the cavalry's arrival in a dramatic light as Dragon and Rider alike enter and slowly surround Dream.

Jack's Changewing. Ant's Flightmare. Ponk's Singetail. Niki and Punz' Razorwhips. Bad's Terrible Terror, Rat. Quackity's Armorwing. Hbomb's Gronkle. Sam's Whispering Death. Sapnap's Fireworms and Cinnamon. Eret's Hobblegrunt, Ted, and Songwing, Ursa. Puffy's Scauldron, River. Ranboo's Night Light. Even Punz' Zippleback is back with him.

They all surround Dream from all angles, slowly pushing him into a corner. Patches is called over by Sapnap and hesitantly runs into his waiting arms, only to be passed off to one to Hbomb's arms.

One life taken. Patches squirms, and the other dragons look afraid, hesitant.

Second life taken. Patches quietly growls and hisses, the other dragons slowly fall out of their defensive position.

When Dream appears after Tommy said he'd kill him for good. Hbomb screams as Patches roars and runs in front of her owner, hissing at Tommy. The other dragons snap into action, most falling in to _protect_ Dream.

Hbomb's stunned on the floor, many of the dragons look ready to attack everyone that isn't Dream. They spend the next twenty minutes calming the dragons down and reminding them (and chat low-key) that they're all still friends! Friends! See? Tommy and Dream are awkwardly hugging! Friends! Oop, there's Sapnap and Bad tackling Dream into hugs and cuddling on the floor with a couple of the dragons. Philza Minecraft logs in to apply a cure for Patches' venom for Hbomb.

The scene continues on relatively on track, though, immediately after Tommy ends his stream and Tubbo finishes up his roleplay part of the stream, Dream is found being forcefully cuddled with Ember and Luar.

("This isn't canon," Dream says between giggles as the dragons nuzzle into him like giant, scaly kneading cats.

"It is not but god I wish it was. This is adorable.")

* * *

Tommy's visit is less focused on Tommy and Ember, but more so on Warden Sam and Lily the Death Gripper. The Prison is protected with a lot of layers and traps and precautions, with a final resort being either a Shellfire or a Submaripper, Tommy can't tell which one's there to protect it and which one got lost. Regardless, Tommy doesn't question it. Patches is there too and she's the only one who follows Tommy to Dream's cell.

Dream explains that the reason Patches isn't in here with him is because it would be beyond cruel to lock her in such a cramped and small box for _his_ entire sentence. Sam lets her come in as often as she'd like, Lily's already figured out how to open the prison to let her in when Sam's busy.

Honestly, the visit is more Dream cuddling with a dragon than it is whatever Tommy came in there to talk about, because it sure as hell wasn't anything involving Wilbur's revival. Honestly, if you didn't kill the guy because he could revive your brother, then why the shit didn't you ask about it on the first visit so you could get to murdering him for good faster? Geeze.

* * *

The Crimson, the Egg, the Blood Vines slowly consume the server more and more. Infecting people and dragons alike.

While the people lose their red or gain some red, the dragon's are different. Ant's Flightmare is now a deep red over his usual blue. The flames of Punz' Razorwhip are now a blinding red, and his Zippleback's gas is now a deep crimson.

The Dragons' opinion on the Egg matches with their riders and visa versa with the Egg's opinion on the dragons matching how it feels about their riders.

When Ponk takes the Crimson'd to their hitman, they're greeted by Purpled and his Boneknapper appearing from seemingly out of nowhere.

* * *

For the Tales of the SMP, the dragons don't appear often outside of the smaller ones. Though, usually one can find one of Karl's Night Terrors on him.

During his exploration of Mizu with the other fishermen, he brought four Night Terrors with him, one for each fisherman. The numbers dropped just as the number of fishermen did. Ranbob did have a dragon, and it turns out to be a Changewing and a Scauldron, the very Scauldron that led the fishermen over to Mizu. The Changewing being the source of a lot of the strange sounds and chills Karl felt while there.

Then, when he visited the Mansion with the Head Night Terror by his side, its revealed that Billiam and the Butler _do_ have dragons. A Whispering Death hidden in the Egg's room and a Speed Stinger that aided in the hunt for the Egg's sacrifices.

(Despite being a bit sick, Dream still sent Patches over to film the episode. He was suppose to be the other Butler who took care of and kept an eye on Billiam's beloved baby Typhoomeramg)

The Inbetween blends well with the Head Night Terror's scales, chillingly so.

When Karl comes home, he's always greeted by his flock of Night Terrors, who keep an eye on his library for him when he's gone.

* * *

On days when there's not a plot stream, one could find Dream running around his SMP with a herd of dragons tailing behind him. The first few times, ever since Dream was canonically imprisoned, chat freaked out but was quickly assured by the streamer that him being out is non-canon. Let him vibe on his own server dammit. Or, they get distracted by Dream playing with the dragons.

Patches is often seen on Sam's streams when there's roleplay going on due to the fact that she has no one else to turn too. Canonically, Sapnap and George's dragons don't trust her, and she gets bad vibes from the Eggpire and the L'manburgians hate her due to her association with Dream. The only ones relatively open to her are: Techno, Philza, Puffy, and Sam. She sticks with Sam due to him giving her easier access to her owner.

Noncanonically though? She just zooms around in the background. A couple of times people have broken character because they saw her nyooming by. Charlie Slimecicle managed to grab her when she zoomed by on his first day.

It did not end well, but hey, at least the server is fully stocked with Speed Stinger Antidote again and Patches made a new friend in Charlie's Sliquifier. Later, off stream, Io would learn of Dream's natural talent with Dragons, because she just falls putty to his hands like all the other dragons that adore him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack Manifold - Changewing [hehe Manifold man not there often]  
> Sam - Whispering Death & Deathgripper [N/A] [Scary Dragon for Scary Warden]  
> Hbomb - Gronkle & Smothering Smokebreaths [N/A] [Instead of the cats he adopts in canon, its the Smokebreaths. The three he brought are named: Clayton, Toby, and Ant]  
> Ant - Flightmare (His Sliquifier has been retconned and given to Mr. Slime)  
> Ponk - Singetail [Lemon Tree Arson]  
> ?????? - Typhoomerang  
> ?????????? - Submaripper  
> ?????? - Shellfire  
> Purpled - Boneknapper [Murder]  
> Billiam - Whispering Death  
> Butler - Speed Stinger [Easier to catch the Egg's food]  
> Ranbob - Changewing & Scauldron [Murder pet] [Lures in the food]  
> Charlie Slimecicle - Sliquifier [idk, slime?]


	19. Together We Fall Apart - Angst Sudden End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An immediate aftermath of the most recent Chapter (Chapter 14 that I havent fully read because I know it will destroy me)
> 
> Note: Ghostbur isn't around here because after Dream was YEETED into prison, technically speaking Ghostbur's unfinished symphony (Tommy) is finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [_Together We Fall Apart_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28805391/chapters/70643751) by [Night_Fracturer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Night_Fracturer/pseuds/Night_Fracturer)
> 
> So make sure to go send them some love because fuck this fic hurts me in ways I love because damn I finally feel a bit of emotional pain for once
> 
>  **TW:** Blood, Injury, Suicide, Character Death, Mild Gore(?), Self-Hatered

Tommy was livid at finding Dream here, in his _family's_ house. Especially with the bloodbath that was the outside and the injured Philza on the couch. But Phil said he was a guest, so he can't really kill Dream or actually hurt him.

At least not physically.

But that's for after he tends to his father's wounds. His wings looked utterly fucked just like the rest of him, at least from what he can tell under all the blood soaking into the man's clothes and feathers.

He doesn't know his way with healing like Phil, hasn't gotten into the situations where he's the most capable medic on the field. Which is good. But he kinda wishes he took up Dream's offer, before the wars, before the betrayal, before the pain and hurt, on a medical training lesson. That's in the past now, and after all he's done, will Tommy really trust him now on how to help his father?

Sure, dad said he was a guest but that doesn't mean Dream isn't trying something. He's not letting this monster hurt his family more than it has.

But when he returns to the living room hours later, he finds Dream missing.

Good.

Good riddance.

* * *

When Phil awakens, he's greeted by the sight of his favourite pain in the ass of a son and he smiles. Before the memories of what happened before he passed out flood his mind.

Tommy arriving, relief flooding his system at knowing it won't just be him and Dream, both too injured to tend to their wounds with Techno hours— maybe even days— away.

Tommy shouting, yelling with some much hatred and venom in his voice, nothing like the compassionate and caring little troublemaker he raised—

Tommy's trident pointed to Dream's chest—

Dream'e eyes filled with so much genuine raw fear as his lungs struggle to take in air—

He stops his youngest from killing his newest son, because no matter the blood on any of his son's hands. He's not letting them take each other down.

"Tommy," He rasps, wincing at how dry his throat was. How long has he been out?

"Phil!" Tommy exclaims, immediately clamouring to his side with a messy arm full of healing items, "What'd you need—?"

"Where's Dream?"

Tommy scowls, eyes blazing with hate, "Gone. Good riddance, am I right?"

Phil immediately sits up, wings snapping open in his panic, despite the pang of pain at the action he continues on, "What? Where did he go?"

Tommy scoffs, rolling his eyes, "Fuck if I know. Jesus Phil, I know your old and your vision ain't as good as it use to be, but even you should've seen his manipulation?"

There's something more to that. Phil knows, but he can poke that bear when he knows all of his sons are safe. "Tommy. Did you know what condition that prison was in when you tossed him into it?"

Tommy blinks at him with a confused expression. He doesn't. Fuck.

"Tommy. That prison was nothing more than a secured dark box. Killing him would've been more merciful than that. I don't know what happened between you and Dream, and I do want to know. But first I need to make sure he's okay before we can talk about it, okay?"

Tommy glares at him like an angry puppy, angry but not that intimidating, "He- He was the one who did this to you!" He gestures to Phil's injured form and wings.

"Tommy," He chides with a tone serious enough that it makes Tommy fall silent, "You don't know what happened on that field. You don't know what happened. Don't jump to conclusions. If Dream wanted me dead, Then why was I still breathing on our couch? And do you really think that Dream had any weapon on him after he disappeared? That sword he was using was my own. If Dream wanted me dead, he's had many chances. But considering that fact that he was basically skin and bones and on the verge of death when I found him, he won't be hurting anyone anytime soon. I don't know what happened between you and Dream, but I need to make sure he's okay first, alright?"

Tommy doesn't move, his glare is still there, if a bit softened, and Phil takes that as a yes to try and move. But then Tommy pushes him back to bed, shaking his head.

"I can't let you do that Phil."

Guess he's unpacking that baggage first. Gods, he hopes Techno arrived at some point when he was knocked out and is currently looking for Dream, or at least notices that Dream's missing or something.

He doesn't want to find out what'll happen to his newest son if he's left alone while his thoughts were spiralling. He doesn't want to lose another son, not so soon after gaining him.

* * *

Dream is a monster.

Dream is a villain.

Everything good thing that's ever happened in his life he's ruined. He had some of the most loyal, and loving best friends that anyone could've ever asked for. He had an amazing SMP filled with friends that he would consider family. He betrayed his friends, he hurt them. He destroyed and damaged both the SMP as a location and the people that resided in it.

A part of him wished that Tommy had killed him right then and there. Because outside of the panic of the memories and guilt, he wasn't afraid to die. And now that he's walking through the dense, cold forest he's come to know over the week's he's been here, he's honestly craving it. It's better than the constant fear, guilt, and pain. It's better than being a constant burden on his ex-friends. It's better than being an annoyance Phil has to deal with because he feels like he has to. It's better than keeping the tyrant alive.

At some point, the aching in his ribs intensified and the taste of copper filled his mouth. Ah. He probably punctured a lung with his broken ribs. Good. He doesn't deserve a peaceful death.

He sits down near the portal. Knowing well that Techno won't be arriving for another day if his timing was correct. Honestly, he should've died here that blizzarding night. It would've been better for everyone, in the end.

The SMP, George, Sapnap, Tommy, Tubbo, everyone being freed of the tyrant that brought pain to their lands once and for all ~~(but the lands were once his, were they not? Were they not the ones invited into his home and starting taking it over? Were they not the ones who took and took and took and took? Were they not the ones who painted him as a villain that brought children to war? Was it not Wilbur he brought several teenagers to war against highly experienced combatants? Was it not WIlbur who let a child be his spy against a Tyrannical Emperor? Was it not Wilbur who painted Dream as the monster, the villain, the tyrant? "The brutality and tyranny of their rulers...")~~.

Dream feels the familiar cold creep up and surround him. He wants to panic. He wants to run. But he can't be bothered too. He's tired. It hurts to breath. It hurts to think. It hurts to live. The darkness and the cold are as terrifying as they are familiar.

He lets it consume him because they are the only things in this world that genuinely want him.

* * *

**Dream froze to death.**

* * *

Techno saw the message appear in chat and immediately starting running for the portal as fast as he could, the moment he got through he was greeted by the sight of Dream's corpse slumped against the portal, ice cold and bleeding from his mouth. Injuries littering his form.

Phil and Tommy go silent at the message. Phil immediately covers his mouth in shock, tears already falling. When he glances to Tommy, he finds the boy silently looking at the message as tears roll down his cheeks.

Dream's a tyrant. A monster. A Villain. So why is Tommy crying over his death? _Because,_ a voice in his head whispers, _because once upon a time. Before exile. Before the wars. Before the betrayals. He was once, genuinely, your friend._

In the SMP, George and Sapnap are breaking down while most everyone else cries silent tears. The only sound outside of sniffles and hiccups are George and Sapnap's sobs and cruel begging to the world as to why? Why? WHY?

The Eggpire all look at the message and for the first time in months, feel clarity as they cry. The Egg can't offer them their friend back because it can't bring back the dead. Bad is quick to break down before the others do as well.

* * *

Wilbur walks over to Dream, and immediately notes how much weaker he looks. Like many things after his death, it hits him that Dream was only just another child during the first war.

A child who was labeled as a tyrant, a monster, for trying to keep the land he founded from breaking apart with nations and countries and wars. He was just another child soldier, forced to be older than he was because any weakness could and would be used against him.

"Is it over?" Dream asks, voice meek and small and nothing like the confident, compassionate hunter he knew, "Am I finally free?"

Wilbur doesn't answer, because he's not sure if Dream wants to know now that his head's a bit clearer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ambiguous Ending! Does Dream respawn? Does he not? Who knows! I'm not continuing this (probably), so go! Someone else pick this up if you want to!


	20. Plucking My Own Strings - Alternate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new version because what happened on the 20th was too good not to be something plot changing to AUs!
> 
> "Sapnap, kill me! Please!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **TW:** Mind Control, Possession, Angst, Implied (?) Dissociation, Malnutrition, Mild Starvation, Mentioned Gaslighting, Mentioned Conditioning, Mentioned- basically all the shit Dream did to Tommy during Exile, Major Character Death, Wilbur Death War flashbacks (/hj), Mildly (?) Suicidal Dream

Tommy was Nightmare's second favourite toy to play with. His actual favourite would be Dream, it was so fun to toy with him and his mind when he went off travelling after the Disc War. It was so much fun breaking and destroying him. But poor Dreamy's too broken to be played with anymore, so Nightmare's focus is completely into toying with Tommy now.

He _could_ swap vessels, but that would raise too much suspicion. Especially if Dream survives his departure. And he would much rather prefer to stay and play with his favourite toys. The faint, rare whispers of Dream telling him to stop is music to his ears. The sense of dread and fear Dream feels when Nightmare hurts his dear friends is absolutely delicious.

Dream is such an expressive person, it made him extra fun to play with. Had it not been for that damned mask he always wore, Nightmare simply would've possessed Wilbur and toyed with Dream from there. But alas he does, and he knows how to hide his emotions in his voice well enough to make it not as fun. Possessing Dream was infinitely more fun after he realized how much _power_ Dream possessed and never fully used. It gave him a wider range of people to toy with! How fun!

Then there was Tommy, who was only matched by Dream with how expressive he was, with how his heart was worn on his sleeve, poorly covered up with a false, young ego and bravado. Tommy was just as fun to play with as Dream, maybe even more so because it was so much easier to get a rise out of the boy than Dream. Tommy was boisterous and expressive, with a lot of attachment to things on the server that if you even _speak_ about messing with it the teen would react with the fury of an untrained Chihuahua.

It was why he invited Tommy and Tubbo to the mountain just to taunt and toy with them with fake discs. He might've gotten a _bit_ arrogant, taunting them with the fake discs _and_ showing them his bunker. He didn't really say what his plans were after he got everyone's attachments, but he would've made it like a very bloody game of chess. Letting them do their thing only to pull the rug right out from under them and use their attachment against them.

But then _Punz_ had the gall to betray him.

(It's not really betrayal when the guy is paid help.

Shut it Dreamy.)

He could've easily taken Punz down alone, after all, he's a Dreamon possessing someone as physically strong as _Dream._ Punz would be an easy kill.

But then the bastard had to come in with the fucking cavalry backing him up and cornering him.

That's fine. He could work with this. Comply and go into the prison, wait for Ranboo to come in during one of his sleepwalking episodes, or maybe cash in that favour from Techno, or maybe wait and see if Blood can spread further around the server from their core. He already knows Blood has Ant and Bad back in their hands, though he, personally, doesn't like the method Blood uses. A strange plant eating up the place? Honestly, he stopped questioning Blood after the 12th time they've done this in a territory he claimed. Nightmare had half a mind to destroy Blood's form, but he'll let them have their fun. It's only fair to share.

He throws Dream's items into the pit. Dream whispers in quiet and defiant voice, "Karma."

* * *

Dream watches numbly as Nightmare caves and is slain by Tommy with Techno's Axe of Peace as it fulfils the duty of its name in bringing peace to the server by killing him. He feels a faint flicker of warm pride as Tommy does so, which only increases as Nightmare tries to worm his way out.

Before he respawns, he saw the blood on Techno's axe. Black. Nightmare's blood. Dreamon blood.

He doesn't say anything that Nightmare would catch, because the Dreamon's panicking too much to have noticed his Dreamonic blood on Tommy's weapon.

As he descends, he's met with his own Crossbow in Tubbo's shaky hands as Sapnap and the others surround him.

"Dreamon," Tubbo hisses, gaze firm and fiery and confident in a way he so rarely was. He felt Nightmare internally shiver at it. Good. He deserves to feel fear after what he's done to Dream's SMP.

Sapnap notices the hesitation Nightmare has and growls, "Take off the mask, Dreamon."

Nightmare hesitates again, internally growling at Dream's smugness, before slowly taking off the mask to reveal his face and eyes. _You're forgetting, Dreamy, that I can easily hide my eyes._

Dream says nothing back at the Dreamon, letting what happens after speak for him.

Sapnap pushes his blade further into the Dreamon's throat. Tubbo raises the crossbow to pierce through his brain, knowing well that even if it's a Dreamonic possession, Dream can still feel the pain of his own body. Their glares harden before Ponk comes in with a freshly crafted golden chain.

"No!" Nightmare roars, his voice distorted, piercing, and eerie in a way only a Dreamon's voice could be as he tries to weasel his way out, only to be met with the Netherite blades of Dream's beloved friends.

Nightmare's quickly tied with golden chains and put in an obsidian cube.

"Dream in a box what will he do?" Tommy jokes, proud and arrogant. Tubbo punches his arm with a bit more force to be light-hearted, "Hey! What the fuck?"

"That's not Dream," Tubbo informs with a sharp and serious tone, eyes focused and cold, body tense with fear and anticipation, "It's a Dreamon. Not Dream. It never _was_ Dream."

* * *

Sapnap and Tubbo explain what a Dreamon is to the rest of the group in tense voices, occasionally sneaking glances back at the Dreamon.

Sapnap wonders how long it's been the Dreamon running around in his oldest friend's body. He wonders how long he's been blaming Dream for the Dreamon's actions. He wonders if his best friend is still even there anymore or if the Dreamon has completely broken him to the point that he might not get him back. Thinking back on it, when was the last time he saw Dream's face? When was the last time he heard that stupid tea kettle of a laugh he has? When was the last time he saw Dream, his best friend, and not Dream, the tyrant?

As he sneaks another glance at the Dreamon, who's eyes are still masked to be Dream's green ones, he notices the bags under them. Heavy and dark. He notices that his jaw is a lot bonier than before, sunken and thin. Surprisingly, he notices how pale Dream is last out, he looks like death.

What the fuck has this Dreamon been doing to his best friend to leave him looking so close to death, yet still making him fight as if he was at peak condition?

With well contained fury, he approaches the box and glares at the Dreamon, locking eyes. Trying to find some semblance of his friend in them. Because what if it wasn't a Dreamon? What if he wants to believe it is just so he can excuse his best friend from his crimes? What if Dream let himself fall to the Dreamon? No, no. He wouldn't. His Dream cares so much about the people in his life. He cares about them so violently and truly. If it weren't for his mask his heart would be wide open for everyone to see and use against him. He would rather die for his friends than betray and hurt them without any good reason. Especially not him and George.

He's snapped out of his thoughts by the Dreamon's growl, before he leaps forward to try and bite his face. He staggers back with a yelp, holding his nose, feeling the fresh slice the Dreamon's fangs left on it.

"Yup! That's a Dreamon! That's definitely the Dreamon! Oh god!" He says, scrambling back to the group as the Dreamon cackles at him with a sick, echo in his voice, eyes shifting to their true colour. Black sclera and blood red irises.

* * *

Nightmare maybe trapped in a corner but he's still has a few trump cards up his sleeve so they can't exorcize him.

"Get rid of me and you won't be getting Wilbur back!" He tries, desperate for anything at this point.

"What?" Tommy says, in a quiet and hopeful voice. Eyes flickering with hope.

"I know how to bring people back to life," He coolly replies, "We Dreamons know a lot of things you mortals don't. I could help you bring Wilbur back to life. Just don't exorcize me."

Tubbo hesitates when Tommy gives him a hopeful yet hopelessly pleading look, before he shakes his head and aims Dream's crossbow between his eyes, "How do we not know you're lying?"

"Now," He says with a deep chuckle, voice slipping back into Dream's, "Why would I lie about that? I was friends with you guys, wasn't I?"

Tubbo's resolve only seems to harden at that, as he pushes the crossbow impossibly close to his face, " _Dream_ was— is our friend. Not _you,_ Dreamon."

* * *

Dream is revelling in Nightmare's fear as Tubbo has his crossbow aimed at his head. He cackles widely as Tubbo doesn't back down from his decision, even denying Tommy's silent plead.

A part of him hopes to see Tubbo shot Nightmare with the crossbow, regardless he's _so_ proud of him and Tommy for making it this far and surviving so long in Nightmare's game.

He hears Nightmare frantically begging with his own voice, probably as an unconscious tactic to make his friends hesitate. But he knows from Tubbo's resolve alone that they won't.

"Fine. Let's hear something from Dreamy boy himself then."

What?

Suddenly, he's violently thrown back into the driver's seat after spending way too long being nothing more than a mere observer in his own body. He gasps, taking a moment to breath and readjust to the feeling of being in control again.

He feels a gentle, scared hand touching his chained arm, "Dream?"

He looks up to meet Sapnap's gaze, hesitant and untrusting.

"Hey," He breaths, the tension in his body leaving if only a bit, "I— Why—?"

"Dream is it true that the Dreamon can bring people back to life?" Tommy asks, surprisingly yet unsurprisingly quick to the point.

"I don't— I don't know—" He gasps, feeling Nightmare quickly try to take back control.

"See?" Nightmare says, voice deep and demonic, "Not even Dream knows what I'm fully capable of! Who's to say your little _book_ can tell you all that I can do if not even my vessel knows my full capabilities? So, let me go and I can help you get your _precious_ Wilbur back."

Nightmare makes it a point to look at all the people that deeply cared for Wilbur, planting seeds of false hope as Dream finally senses Nightmare's lie. Dream jumps at the realization, desperately trying to crawl back into the driver's seat to warn them.

He manages to take hold for a moment, a brief second where his eyes flash back to normal and Nightmare's confidence falls from his face before quickly flashing back. He's not sure if anyone saw it and is about to sink back into the cold numbness he's grown use to when he hears Tubbo snarl.

_"Liar."_

Tubbo aims the crossbow at his head again, eyes sharp but in a way that's warm and protective rather than cold and cruel. Tubbo pulls the trigger and Dream couldn't be more proud of him.

* * *

Everyone awaits for the Dreamon to descend, the portal's been blocked off and Tubbo has brought out special golden arm braces made to help contain Dreamons. Sapnap stands with Punz and Sam to put them on the Dreamon when he arrives.

"Roll up your sleeves," Sam orders in a voice far too calm and still for what's been happening. Dream nods and does as told.

Sapnap's breath hitches, along with several others, at the site of Dream's boney and pale arms. He's far too thin for someone of Dream's stature. How could he have done the things he did if his body was like this? How much power was the Dreamon unknowingly using to keep Dream alive? How long has it been since Dream's eaten a full meal?

Punz swallows the lump in his throat and gentle starts to put the arm braces on, with Sapnap and Sam following him a moment later. Their hands lingering a moment too long on Dream's thin arms and hands. Gods, they could _far_ too easily wrap their fingers around Dream's wrists.

"We'll get this Dreamon out of you, alright Dream?" Sapnap says like he's speaking to a scared animal, as everyone gets into a formation to escort him through the Nether.

"Nightmare."

"Huh?"

Dream inhales a deep breath, before speaking again with a shaky voice, "The Dreamon's name is Nightmare."

"Is that why all of your weapons are named Nightmare?" Tommy asks curiously, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Dream snickers, causing a few to flinch at the achingly familiar sound, "He has a bit of an ego. I always hoped his hubris would cause his downfall."

"How much do you see when Nightmare's controlling your body?"

Dream sighs, heavy and tired, "Too much." He turns his gaze to the lava, his eyes filled with a painful and worrying longing, "And I couldn't do anything about it."

Tommy nods, before letting out a shaky breath and asking, "Dream, can you- can you tell- them what Nightmare did to me during my exile?"

Immediately everyone perks up and starts asking Tommy what Nightmare did, making the poor boy shrink in on himself. The usual confidence he carries gone so easily. Sapnap's going to murder this Dreamon with his bare hands for doing this to Tommy and Dream, reducing the most stubbornly passionate people with the most open hearts into something resembling wounded and abused animals. Overly guarded, scared, and scarred. There is hope but for any fruits to be bared from that hope, it requires effort. Effort that a lot of them have stopped putting into the server and in each other.

Gods, they're all fucked up aren't they? All so young yet already so traumatized and battle hardened. Well, someone needs to bring this server together and honestly, this event might be the linchpin to pushing some of them to it.

Dream sighs, gods he's so tired, before coughing lightly, turning everyone's attention away from Tommy and pointing it to himself, "Nightmare... manipulated him. Made him think that he was Tommy's only friend. He tricked Ghostbur into leaving so that it was no only them. He gas lit and abused and conditioned Tommy," Dream says with a tired fury in his voice, before he chuckles, "He made Tommy put whatever armour he just freshly obtained into a pit before destroying it. Nice job on turning the tide on him with that one, Tommy. I'm proud."

He notices how Tommy flinches at those words and tries hiding the stupid grin on his face from it, "Are you really?"

"I am! I am. You two did great today. I'm proud. I'm sure Wilbur is too."

"Speaking of Wilbur, I wonder where he is. Hey, when was the last time anyone saw Ghostbur?" Tubbo asks, glancing around. A couple of murmurs speaking of how their last sighting of him was sometime after a failed resurrection attempt or Doomsday.

Dream chuckles, shaking his head, "That's not Wilbur. Ghostbur is something— _someone_ entirely different from Wilbur. Ghostbur isn't Wilbur's ghost, he's the spirit of L'manburg." Everyone beside and behind Dream looks at him with utter shock and confusion. "L'manburg, the values, the memories, what is represented, died when Wilbur blew it up. It died when Wilbur did. Ghostbur was the ghost and manifestation of L'manburg's ideals, taking the form of the founder who founded those ideals. Wilbur been gone ever since Phil killed him."

Everyone falls silent after that truth is revealed, no one utters a word for the entirety of the trip back until they meet up with others.

* * *

Phil and Techno came here par Ranboo's request and the offer of better relations with the rest of the SMP. But Phil certainly wasn't expecting to see his son's own death replayed before him in the form of Sapnap killing Dream after his sudden begging when no one was looking.

He saw the cavalry arrive with Dream in golden chains, something about a Dreamon that needed to be exorcized out of him so they could have their friend back. Dream kept looking at him when everyone was discussing on the materials for the ritual, a million words in a single, tired gaze.

He was left alone with Sapnap to keep an eye on Dream in case Nightmare tried to take control.

"Wilbur was also possessed by Nightmare, you know," Dream said, letting the words sink in but before they could say a response, "I didn't realize it was Nightmare at the time, not until Manburg was blown up. Wilbur already thought he was going insane with just Nightmare's occasional whispers, but having him full on _talk_ to him was probably what made Wilbur truly spiral into insanity. Maybe that's why he begged to die so quickly. Nightmare was too busy revelling in the chaos through me to bother with his grip on Wilbur."

"And? What's that got to do with us?" Sapnap snapped, tense, uncomfortable, and afraid.

"Phil deserved to know. And Sap, I don't want to die like Wilbur did. I don't want to lose my sanity to Nightmare's hold. I don't want him to destroy me so much that the first moment of clarity I have once I'm free is to crave death. I don't want to die when there's still a chance for Nightmare to run free," Dream locked eyes with his oldest friend and asks, "Sapnap, I want you to be the one to take my final life. Take my final life and take Nightmare down with me. He hasn't managed to latch onto another vessel so if I go he's coming with me. They all wanted me dead before they found out about the Dreamon so do it! Do it Sapnap! Kill me! Take my last life, do it!"

Dream moves closer to Sapnap, moves closer to the younger's drawn blade.

"I- I can't- We can- We can still save you Dream. You're my _best friend_ I can't kill you, not while we can still get rid of Nightmare without losing you."

Dream laughs, empty and hallow yet so pained, "Pandas! Look at all the damage Nightmare's done. That _I've_ done. Look at all the things I've destroyed! Look at how much time and effort was wasted on those buildings- those friends, only for me to tear them down!" Dream shouts, holding Sapnap by the collar with cuffed wrists. Before his voice goes soft, "Do it, Nick. Kill me! Stab me with that sword I help you create all those years ago! Do it! Please!"

Sapnap takes a step back, and for a moment it seems he contemplates if he should try to reason with him. But he only locks eyes with Phil before they both turn to look into Dream's own hopeless gaze.

The same hopeless, guilt-ridden gaze Wilbur had as he was begging his own father to kill him.

Phil takes in a deep breath before turning away and letting them decide on their own. He already knows what Sapnap's going to do, but he would rather not relive more of his son's death by his hands.

* * *

**Dream was slain by Sapnap**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I RUSHED TO FINISH THIS BECAUSE BRUH??? THEY MADE AT LEAST THE _THREAT_ OF SAPNAP TAKING DREAM'S FINAL LIFE CANON??? DID I ACCIDENTALLY MANIFEST IT OR WAS IT REALLY THAT OBVIOUS THAT OUT OF ALL THE FRIENDS TO BE THE ONE TO KILL HIM ITS THE ONLY BEST FRIEND THAT'S SOMEWHAT INVOLVED IN THE LORE?


	21. Dream's Death - An Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of all the times I've killed Dream in this and future one-shots lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> c!Dream Empathizer/Sympathizer

When Dream dies, they all expect to be relived that the tyrant, the monster is gone. That the cause of all their problems. All their conflicts. All their pain. Their trauma. Their suffering. Is gone.

Oh how naïve they were. Nations start anew. Wars are started once again. Sides are chosen. Friendships are damaged and destroyed. Why? The tyrant is gone. The monster is gone. Did Dream hurt them so much that now one of them is trying to fill the void he did?

No, that's not it and they all know it. Dream was never the tyrant Wilbur painted him as. He was never the monster the L'manburgians saw him as. But hear something enough and you start to believe it.

So, Dream played the villain, the monster, the tyrant, the puppeteer. Because if everyone's saying it, then surely it must be true, right? Maybe he didn't want L'maburg to start, not because he was scared of losing his friends but rather because he was a monster so desperate to keep control of everyone, right?

It seems they all forgot how young they were when the revolution happened.

Tommy, despite his trauma, didn't really mature. Perpetually trapped in the same cycle of troublemaking and chaos he insinuates but never truly takes accountability for in a way that matters and leaves a mark. Tubbo matured, but still lacked a level of surety and sternness to truly make his voice heard and opinions matter. Fundy matured and is weaving through his trauma and pain as healthily as he can in this broken world filled with broken people.

Dream was only two months older than Fundy, during the first war. But he was forced to mature faster due to his role as the server's admin. They all thought him an adult in the first war, when he was only but a teen fighting teens, while the man who started the war stood back and spat words and slander to manipulate two fiery, sweet children against him. Dream has trauma, but unlike Fundy he doesn't have nor does he feel like he deserves the luxury of sifting through it and healing.

* * *

When Dream dies. Sapnap mourns both his best friend and his engagement, because Quackity had the gall to happily celebrate the death of a man who would've been Sapnap's best at their wedding. Had the wars and nations not destroyed his best friend.

Can he even call Dream his best friend? He didn't notice his friend was suffering and falling apart and was being painted worse than what he actually, and Sapnap believed the lies and slander over what he actually knew about his best friend.

Why did he believe Wilbur, his opposition, when the man said his best friend was a tyrant, a monster? Why did he believe Tommy's word fully when Dream, in a fit of rage, said Dream didn't care? Why didn't he try to help his friend before he slipped through his fingers?

* * *

When Dream dies, Tommy and Tubbo get their discs back and their precious happy ending.

But then Tubbo starts a nation and Tommy gets into trouble, sparking another war. It doesn't make sense. Why are their still wars, conflicts, when Dream is gone?

It would take them a few years, and a lot of therapy from Sam and Puffy, but they would realize that Dream was also a victim in the war, and that life isn't so black and white. That Wilbur had always been a bit mad in the fact that he brought two _children_ to war against several _teenagers,_ as well as forcing those kids to fight each other as opposed to fighting himself. Not to mention the fact that Wilbur later added more kids to L'manburg after the war.

Tommy would burn the discs. They symbolized attachment. Rebellion. Physical conflicts and confrontations with bloody and scarring ends.

Tubbo would drag him and Tommy off far, far away from the SMP into a new land and heal and live the childhoods Wilbur's wars deprived them of.

* * *

When Dream dies, no one truly mourns for him in the way they cried when L'manburg passed, or deny it like they did with Wilbur's death, or outright celebrate then forget about it like Schlatt's.

Some cheer with a bit too much enthusiasm, even for them. Some cry later the night of his death. Some move on as if nothing changed.

But they could all see how it was destroying the SMP. _Dream's_ SMP. Wildlife harder and harder to find. Plant live was wilting. And the sky was plagued by perpetual rain. The SMP itself was doing more to mourn their admin than the people did.

It wasn't until a rare, sunny day out when, surprisingly, no one's trying to kill each other did Dream's death really hit them all.

Sapnap was chasing George around, stabbing him and all that. Everyone watches we amused expressions, simply smiling and laughing at their chaos. Bad chides Sapnap a handful of times but inevitably does nothing.

"Sapnap! Stop you're killing me! Dream-" George stops, dead in his tracks as he slaps his hands over his mouth. Sapnap almost crashes into him but stops just at the right time. Everyone else tenses as their blood runs cold at the dawning realization that Dream is dead. He's gone. And he's not coming back.

"...What?" Sapnap says, shocked and stunned, voice cracking despite his near silent tone.

George inhales deeply before carefully replying, "Force of habit. Since we always tried to kill each other during challenges and in the SMP... Like when Dream was renovating the community house, remember?"

"Yeah..." Sapnap sounds breathless as he lets the fact that everything to do with Dream is now in the past tense and will always be in the past tense now, "Yeah, I remember... I- I miss him. George."

"I do too, Sapnap," George says with a tired sigh, before coming in to hug the other remaining member of the Dream Team. Everyone sees the subtle shaking in their forms as they hold each other. Everyone hears the occasional sniffle and sharp breath they take in as they finally acknowledge to each other that Dream is gone and he's never coming back. The tyrant is dead. But so is the friend that invited them into his home and world that he worked so hard to craft and create for them.

If anyone else starts crying, none of them properly acknowledge it. If someone starts rattling on about their memories with Dream, they participate and let the nostalgia of better times wash over them.

If apologies and the slow repair of dying friendships blossom from this, then that shouldn't be a problem now, would it? If Sapnap is seen with a familiar green hoodie tied around his waist, that's no one's business nor problem. If George is seen dawning a familiar pair of fingerless gloves, then he must be trying out a new aesthetic, right?

* * *

When Dream dies, sometimes he comes back as a ghost. Because if he fully died and left, his SMP would die and make all the people within it suffer.

Sometimes, he doesn't come back as a ghost at all and the server slowly wilts away and everyone leaves for better homes. Forgiveness never found. Friendships crumbled and gone. Memories locked away in their hearts.

Sometimes, the title of Admin falls on another. Phil, who is the admin of his own handful of worlds, but lacks the personal closeness with the heart of the SMP. Tubbo, who has the close and far connections, but lacks the experience and maturity and is far too young for this role. Bad, another admin, but lacks the closeness with the extended parts of the SMP. Callahan, who was a close moderator alongside Dream, but generally lacks the closeness to the current events of the SMP. George and Sapnap, close to both the internal and external people of the SMP, but it hits too close to him, taking the role their fallen friend once occupied.

Sometimes, the world doesn't fade away and they all heal and move on and mourn.

* * *

When Dream dies, everyone realizes that they were also somewhat in the wrong for all the terrible things that happened on the SMP.

Who started a nation and sparked a war? Who dragged _children_ to fight for him in that war? Who requested a madman be brought back into the SMP? Who always sought out trouble without ever learning from their mistakes in a way that truly mattered? Who were the ones ready to repeat history? Who were the ones who chased after a man who was so ready to choose peace, only to bring him back into war? Who choose objects, nations, and empty power over the people?

Who's perspective did no one ever try seeing through? Simply content to believe the words and perspective of bias eyes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a Dream Apologist (despite that not being the correct word for what I am its the only wording yall would somewhat understand) sue me


	22. Dream Team In Origins (Ender Dragon Hybrid Dream)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone being a hybrid of some flavour in the Origins SMP (an SMP different from the Dream SMP, less story based so far and more just vibing with whatever funky hybrid abilities they had) lives Rent free in my head because those AUs already existed prior to this
> 
> And also Ender Dragon Hybrid Dream lives rent free in both my head and in my drafts since Jan 1st
> 
>  **TW:** Angst, uh, whatever the fuck sorta self-hatred type of thing is happening to Dream in the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon  
> Feline - Cat/Ocelot Hybrid  
> Shulk Hybrid  
> Avian & Elytrian - Bird Hyrbids (same idea, different flavours)  
> Arachnid - Spider Hybrid  
> Enderian - Enderman Hybrid  
> Merling - Fish Hybrid (basically Mermaid)  
> Phantom Hybrid  
> Non-Canon  
> Canine - Wolf/Dog Hybrid  
> Vuplus - Fox Hybrid  
> Scrofa - Pig/Piglin/Hoglin Hybrid  
> Aries - Sheep/Goat Hybrid  
> Draconid - Ender Dragon Hybrid  
> Oceanid - Guardian Hybrid  
> Creeper Hybrid

Dream, alongside a couple of others from his SMP, weren't planning on joining the Origins SMP. Some had their reasons, others simply just didn't want to. Him and Techno were busy with writing the scripts and such. Him and the Badlanders were busy planning out and getting things set up for the Eggpire plot. The Dream Team, despite mostly not being involved in the RP, were busy doing their own things. Not to mention Dream being the SMP's admin and was thus figuring out how to assimilate the new 1.17 codes into the server without potential corruption and ruin in some areas.

But it was only a matter of time until the others were dragged in with the appeal of the hybrid mechanic. Randomly selected depending on the person's personality and heart and playstyle. Contrary to what the roleplay shows, everyone on the SMP is fully human. The 'hybrids' in the roleplay merely being a lot of makeup and costumes. Some harder than others to apply (cough Ranboo cough).

Hearing about it from the others was fun. Tommy was bragging about his slow fall and quick speed, something that would be more useful in a solo setting rather than the multiplayer one. Phil and Ranboo were absolutely ecstatic over their abilities, since it not only matched the characters they played but were some of their favourite mechanics. Niki absolutely adored her abilities despite her lack of luck in terms of the spawn, same with Jack. Tubbo and Wilbur were simply just vibing and happy to help and watch the others or do their own thing.

He was never planning on joining, but then an expansion was added to the server that added several dozen more mobs. If a couple of other people slowly started to trickle in, then that wasn't really his problem.

But then Sapnap and George told him they were joining and asked him to come with them, and who is he to deny their request? He would die for these two, both in and out of the roleplay. He's following them. The fans of the SMP's roleplay needed a reminder anyway, that it was all just an act, a show, and that they are all still friends.

* * *

Fundy, Sam, Puffy, Ant, and Techno unsurprisingly got the respective hybrids everyone expected them to have. Fox, Creeper, Sheep, Cat and Pig/Piglin. Vulpus, Creeper, Aries, Feline, and Scrofa powers.

Vulpus gave Fundy faster sprinting, faster than even Tommy's, and a slightly boosted jump in combat plus night vision. But chickens are afraid of him and wild wolves attack him, and he's purely a carnivore, so only meat and fish. He also can't wear armour that's too heavy for it'll impede his speed.

Creeper makes it so Sam can explode at will with the same time limit Phil has between boosts to the sky, but it damages him. He can temporarily become charged for one blast and produce the mob head from it but he does take more damage. Can't tame cats as well.

Aries makes Puffy susceptible to wild wolves assaulting her, and she's a vegan like Tommy. However she can produce wool every few minutes and has reduced fall damage, and she can eat grass to restore health or hunger.

Feline removes fall damage, slows down swim speed, increases hunger restored from fish, scares creepers away, faster sprinting and a slight jump boost when sprinting, and gives them night vision.

Scrofa basically makes Techno a Piglin with a player's brain. Piglins don't attack him even if he isn't wearing gold and his trade ratio with them can be controlled in that he can ask what he wants, increasing its drop chance. He can also steal from bastions without repercussions. The only disadvantage he has is that he can't trade with villagers anymore, Iron Golems attack him on sight, and his swimming capabilities are worse than average.

Feline's also get reduced swim speed on top of their already known abilities apparently.

* * *

What did surprise people was what the others got.

Eret, curiously enough, got the Shulk alongside Tubbo. Bad and Sapnap both got Blazeborn, Sapnap less surprisingly so. Skeppy got Phantom, weirdly enough.

George got Canine, which basically makes him a wolf/dog in a similar way that Ant's a cat/ocelot. Scares off foxes and skeletons. Night vision. Boosted hunger restored when eating meat. Rabbits and skeletons are afraid of him. Plus faster sprinting, not as quick as the Feline and Vulpus, closer to the Avian's speed.

Punz and Ponk, curiously enough, got Oceanid. Guardian Hybrids. Infinite water breathing but capable of going on land, albeit with slower walking speed. An attack beam they can use for 30 seconds but the recharge time is a couple of hours. Plus a slight swim boost in water and a natural thorns. But they can only eat fish.

Meanwhile, no one knows what Dream got. But what he got somewhat terrifies him and impresses the others from what they know of his abilities.

Gliding similar to an elytra or slow falling that he can control. Night vision. Slightly boosted strength and speed. Endermen don't aggro when he looks at them in the eye, and mobs avoid him like the plague unless angered. Boosted pearl drops when he kills Endermen. No disadvantages from what they know too.

Dream's an Ender Dragon Hybrid, and the cons are things like understanding Endermen, and hearing voices. Nothing external but terrifyingly internal things.

He's scared. The voices tell him he's terrible and awful and every terrible thing the character he plays is. It makes sleeping at night near impossible. But the time is spent mining for everyone. He soaks up their praise like a sponge to water, desperate for their approval and kindness and warmth. Anything to reassure to himself that he and the character he plays are different people.

But the voice is louder and more consuming and convincing. Words laced with honey to get the venom into his system. A comforting touch with ice cold hands. It's going to consume him and potentially kill him, but he doesn't want to leave the Origins SMP because what if the voice isn't because he's an Ender Dragon hybrid and because he truly is the monster he plays?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contemplated making the Dream Team Cat Hybrids but then I realized I legally have to make Snapmap a Blaze Hyrbid/Blazeborn
> 
> Also someone please continue this because I cannot, I need some Dream hurt/comfort. I made the set up, someone make the plot pls


	23. Puppy Pile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Non-Porn ABO, I know, a miracle. This is just so I have an excuse to make everyone cuddle and project my touch starvation onto my favourite green boy
> 
> Minecraft is the world but the RP is just that RP, basically an actor AU set in the minecraft world. Also society is far more 'advanced' in certain cultural norms than our's because this is _my_ idealistic fantasy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **CW:** ABO, Non-Sexual Heat, Corona's Lockdown is mentioned  
> Additonal Tags: platonic Safeword

Dream was an Omega, despite what many of his fans and even some of his friends believe. He didn't 'act' or 'smell' like an Omega in the way it's been stereotyped over the centuries. He didn't smell like fresh roses or sweet bread, he smelled of pine and clear skies. Or a sunny day in an open grassy field as a gentle breeze passes over during the summer. But also of dense forests during the unforgiving winter.

Omega's don't smell sweet, and Alpha's don't smell savoury or musky or whatever the fuck. Even Beta's have a scent. It's just that when someone knows, their brain does some level of a placebo effect and makes them think that that Omega girl's ocean smell is not salty and crisp but rather gentle and soft. Societal 'norms' and expectations were weird. But it's long since moved past that, smaller issues like the stereotyping of how certain dynamics act being an incredibly minor problem only shared by some really, _really_ old fashioned individuals.

No one knew Dream's an Omega and none of the said anything on his dynamic. Simply assuming he was a Beta until they see his confidence, recklessness, ambition, and boldness and believe he's an Alpha. It probably wasn't helping his case that he often playfully flirted with George, who's status as an Omega is already known. Plus the moments when he and Sapnap flirt but so playfully so in the way boys do that's free of suspicion, and the fact that Sapnap's an Alpha further proves that case.

He wasn't worried nor did he really care about people learning what his dynamic was, but after his terrifyingly quick rise to fame, he had to admit, he was a bit scared. He knows people might stop watching him because he's not the stereotypical "hot, confident, successful Alpha" they were admiring and/or wanted to date but rather an Omega. He knows some people might do weird things with that fact, and while he has said he's okay with it, something about touching on his status was uncomfortable, to say the least. He knows that if he told his fans to not do that, they would in a heartbeat and would probably maim people who do.

He's planning on doing his dynamic reveal long before his face reveal because something as big as one's dynamic would not only catch more eyes and potentially increase his fanbase (because no matter how far society's progressed, other Omegas still love and adore any and every good representation of their dynamic). And seeing how they'd react to his dynamic reveal would keep him anonymous still but also let him gauge how they'd take a face reveal.

But first, he'd need to reveal it to his friends.

* * *

It's the 20th, the day he was going to be shooting the final confrontation with Tubbo and Tommy. Where hopefully everything goes according to plan, so far nothing seems to be off if their pre-stream check-in hours before is any indication. Everyone has their gear. The sheep and cow and Beckerson are all in the Bunker awaiting their reveal. Tommy and Tubbo have their gear ready and enchanted and healed. Anyone who wanted to give the kids something before they head off is finishing up on getting that or preparing or practicing their lines.

Sapnap and Dream are walking down the prime path, casually chatting about how things should go and how things should roughly progress after in terms of the story. His mask wasn't on because no one should be streaming right now so it's safe until Tommy and Tubbo gave the queue that they were streaming and coming into the SMP.

Dream didn't notice when his steps started swaying slightly, nor when it started to get really hot under his armour and sweater despite the chilly weather of the new year. He didn't register Sapnap talking until he flinched away from Sapnap's hand on his shoulder and prompty fell on his ass did he realize something was wrong.

Sapnap was in front of him, blurred in his vision, words sounding miles away, and his touch was barely out of reach. He took several deep breaths, breathing in Sapnap's familiarly comforting scent of wood smoke and leather as he returned to his senses.

"Dream?" Sapnap asks, eyes filled with concerned. Hands awkwardly hovering beside him, unsure if he's allowed to touch and hold or not.

"I'm—" He rasps, throat dry, "I'm fine, Sap."

"You sure?" Sapnap places the back of his hand on Dream's forehead, he tries not to lean into the comforting and cool touch, "Jesus you're burning up dude! I don't think we should shoot today, you might be sick."

"What? No! No, it's fine. We already promised the viewers that it was today, we can't bail on them now. Plus this'll be the last time I'm going to be actively doing things in the story that isn't just sitting in a box. I'm fine!" He insists, because its hard to get this many people coordinated for a lore stream that isn't some big fight or a globally destructive event.

"...Alright. Just, take it easy until then, okay man?"

"I will."

And he does. He sits on Tommy and Tubbo's bench until the two message him that they're logging on in an hour and he heads off for the mountain. He heads down the prime path, passing by the others still getting ready or having just arrived.

Sapnap stops him on the way near the community house. He cups Dream's face in his hand, carefully looking to try and find any traces of the potential sickness in his friend.

He laughs, gently batting Sapnap's hands off, "I'm fine Snapmap. Don't worry."

Sapnap's frown deepens, eyebrows scrunching in dissatisfaction, "Remember, use the safeword if you need to, okay? None of us, especially the kids, want to keep going on with the rp when you're not comfortable with or you're not feeling good, alright?"

He scoffs, fondly, rolling his eyes, "I will, I will."

* * *

Tommy and Tubbo arrived to the mountain an hour after Dream arrived, as expected, as planned.

Dream plays the fake discs, taunting them, toying with them. They fight, and they kids are doing their damned best while Dream isn't even trying. He corners Tubbo, threatening his last canon life and Tommy caves. Dream reveals the discs were fake, confidence peaking to the point of arrogance as he admits that he was just playing with his food. He takes them to the vault and shows them the cages and containers of everyone's attachments on the server, at least those that were a threat.

Carl & the Axe of Peace for Techno & Philza, Enderchest for Ranboo, Techno & Tommy's Bedrock, Dogchamp for Purpled, Friend for Wilbur & Philza, Henry for Tommy, Squeeks for Tubbo, Beckerson for George & Sapnap, Fran for Sam, Skeppy for Bad, Mars for Sapnap, and the discs for Tommy & Tubbo.

Sometime when he was bragging to Tommy and Tubbo, showing them the vault and the containers for the attachments, the room started to feel too small and stuffy. It was harder to register Tubbo and Tommy's voices, Tommy's shouting making him internally flinch back and whimper.

The cavalry arrives, but Dream didn't really see nor hear them but rather he noticed their scents before he noticed them right before him. He knows he should probably use the safeword, get them to end the scene, end their streams and continue when he doesn't feel like he's overheating—

Overheating...

Heat.

Oh god he's in heat.

* * *

Sapnap has been anxious and fidgety ever since Dream practically collapsed earlier today. He knows Dream is strong, but seeing Dream breathless, shaky, and shivering while simultaneously overheating was concerning. Maybe it's just the protective Alpha instinct in him, to protect Dream from all physical harm and pain as his friend.

The others noted his tension and asked, he simply told them to keep an eye on Dream because he's feeling a bit under the weather today. Puffy, Sam, and Bad were chiding Dream under their breaths, muttering how Dream should've told them he wasn't feeling well and they could've all rescheduled, the others nodding and murmuring their own agreements.

When Sapnap entered the portal, he was in character but the minute he locked eyes on Dream, he immediately went out of character. There was a subtle sway and falter in his steps, subtle enough that only those really close to Dream would notice. Then he noted Dream's scent, it was sour weirdly enough. Despite pine and a warm sunny breeze not being able to _smell_ sour. The only time someone's scent can be sour is if they have a fruity or food-like scent, or if they're an Omega. But Dream isn't...

Oh god.

Sapnap frantically switches to the server discord and tags Tommy and Tubbo several times with the safeword. The cameras are currently all pointed to Dream as Tommy demands him to put his items in the pit.

Dream sways, not putting his items in. Tommy's about to shout at him to do so when he pauses midsentence, seeing Sapnap's frantic messages.

To nearly over eight hundred thousand people, the stream suddenly ends with Tommy's cut off demands with a frantic tweet from Tubbo's twitter talking about some technical difficulties being posted a moment later.

To the people in that scene, it ends when Dream suddenly collapses and is caught by Sapnap's arms when he suddenly jolted forward through the crowd.

"Dream?" Sapnap whispers, gently moving the mask of his friend's face. He's met with a burning fever and pained and hazy eyes. "Oh Dream."

Dream says nothing, probably can't with how unfocused his eyes are. He whimpers and whines, high pitched and ringing, alerting all of their senses. His scent is flaring wildly after being repressed for the sake of the show. Gone is the smell of fresh cool pine and a warm breeze, replaced with rotting trees and burning grass.

Dream clings to Sapnap weakly, another whine escaping his throat. Sapnap lifts him up bridal style, making sure he's upright enough for his head to fall as close to Sapnap's neck.

Sapnap doesn't really register everyone's surprise and exclamations as he focuses on his best friend and his recently revealed dynamic. He needs to get George on.

* * *

When Dream wakes up, he's on soft bedding, surrounded by the comforting scent of freshly burning wood and plants after rain. He purrs, nuzzling into the the warmest source he can find. Which happens to be someone's chest. Calloused by gentle hands run themselves through his hair, only making him purr louder.

Sapnap chuckles, warm and deep, "You finally awake, Dreamy?"

"Mhm," He hums, static on his tongue still. Surrounded by warmth and comforting scents, with a hand very gently carding through his hair, occasionally scratching just enough to feel and make him purr louder, while an arm is draped over the small of his back, a firm and heavy but gentle and reassuring weight to keep him grounded. It's nice.

Sapnap chuckles again, shaking his head before pressing a kiss on Dream's forehead, whispering against it, "Get a bit more rest, okay?"

And Dream does, he lets himself fall back into slumber, feeling warm and safe and so loved that it would hurt if it wasn't sating a sort of starvation in him.

* * *

Sapnap sighs, a deep purr closer to a growl rumbling in his chest as Dream contently nuzzles into his chest purring loudly as his scent consumes the room in a way that leaves only a whisper of it on everything but enough to stick if he leaves.

After he carried Dream back to their off-camera house, everyone was quick to deal with the aftermath of what happened. Puffy, Bad, Niki, Callahan, and Ponk were quick to start making food and treats for the cuddly Omega in heat. Wilbur logged on to help Tommy and Tubbo further explain why their streams both suddenly ended. Ant contacted George. While Punz got the remaining others to help gather Dream's favourite pillows and blankets all around the house, as well as help out the others in the kitchen when they could.

George could only come in for a bit to scent several items for the nest, as well as scenting Dream. But that was enough, it seemed, because Dream's fever started going down after that. He was still whining and whimpering every now and then, but after Sapnap went in to cuddle him, he stopped.

Omegan heats weren't inherently sexual. Specifically because its a human having the heats and humans are tricky and strange creatures. They lost the need to have heats and ruts for reproduction but they never evolved it out of their systems, so it adapted to make it so it's not there for reproduction unless the intent was there on both parties before the heat started. Same with ruts. Without that agreement and plan and anticipation for sex before hand, heats and ruts just made both parties more clingy and affectionate.

Most Omegas have a heat in a set cycle twice a year, some tend to have inconsistent cycles but they usually catch the signs before it can catch up on them. Usually. It seems Dream is in the category of having heats inconsistent cycles, that or he forgot.

But Sapnap can't find a memory where Dream suddenly disappeared on them for around a week, especially this year with the lockdowns making it so they usually spend all their days talking together or playing together.

The only way an Omega could skip heats is through suppressants, but they usually aren't recommended due to the cons usually outweighing the pros. Did Dream supress one of his heats to hang out with them?

He snarls at no one in particular over the fact that Dream felt the need to do that- to- to _hide_ his dynamic from people he's known for _years._

He's snapped out of his thoughts when the omega on top of him whines, curling a bit into himself. He realizes that his overthinking and worry were probably making his scent go bad, worrying his friend.

He nuzzles his nose into Dream's hair, rumbling out a sound that is hopefully comforting. Dream's soft chirp a moment later tells him it worked.

* * *

When Dream wakes, his head is finally clear enough to register the room around him. It's his room in the off-camera SMP house he lives in. He sits up and realizes he's in George's oversized Dream Smile Hoodie, it smells like him too. He's in a nest with various blankets and pillows, as well as a few hoodies and jackets lying about. He spots Punz' iconic hoodie in the pile and he has a feeling if he looks hard enough he'll find Bad's cloak in here too, outside of that it's mostly his, Sapnap, and George's things. He feels and smells Sapnap on him, as well as the faint hint of George, it makes him feel warm and fuzzy inside at their scents surrounding him like a weighed blanket. He remembers the soft rumbling of an alpha as he held Dream and practically petted him. He purrs at the memory of warm arms surrounding him and playing with his hair.

He basks in the warmth and fuzziness and butterflies until he realizes. Why is he alone now? Sapnap was here earlier, where is he? Did he leave? Why did he leave?

A painfully hallow ache fills his chest, stealing the air from his lungs, leaving him cold and aching and lonely. He buries himself in the nest, trying to get back that nice warm feeling again, but its not enough to fully sate it. It's so close to bringing back the warmth but its just barely enough, Dream wants to cry.

He whines, but his cry is left unanswered when nothing changes for several minutes. Tears start to form in his eyes and he lets out a pathetic whimper before he starts to sob and slowly, but quietly, falls apart. He doesn't want this aching emptiness, he wants the warmth surrounding him again, he wants someone to hold him, he wants the love again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There _will_ be a part two, because it was not suppose to end in angst but the part after it got _really_ wordy and long so I had to
> 
> But your tears are delicious so suffer /lh /j


	24. An Immortal & A Time Traveller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karl & Dream being best friends because they're the only constant in the other's lives is a new idea that took root in my brain

Dream & Karl are bffs as an Immortal who loves too fiercely and a bit too easily and as a time travel with a big heart.

Dream is a semi-demi god of some level. When he disappeared from his SMP for long periods of time, it was him researching how to finally rid himself of his immortality and finally be able to live and die.

It works but something went wrong and Dream is split into three beings all with different levels of access to the Main world.

XD, who has the Admin powers and primarily can only come in to prevent certain levels of interference with the End and Church Prime. But he's always watching and observing. He is an embodiment of Dream's benevolence. But all light cannot exist without a shadow. XD is the more godly half, and is thus much less in tune with the hearts of the SMP.

Nightmare was less godly, but still as powerful. He took Dream's physical form and items. While XD is mostly made of good with just the wrong amount of bad in the worse areas, Nightmare is mostly made of bad with drops of good in areas that aren't helping. Controlling and manipulative, with the goal of uniting the SMP as friends again. Hatchets buried and everyone living and being happy together like one big family.

Dream was the leftover husk once all the power was drained. He's mortal, terrifyingly so. He could fully feel all the emotions his centuries of living had numbed down with their full force. If he loved as fiercely as a wildfire before, now he loves as fiercely as a flaming hurricane. He was emotion, empathy, compassion, _love._ While the other two were mostly cold logic with enough emotion to have motives that weren't too cruel. Despite the current standings being incredibly cruel as is.

Somethings happen, and Karl evacuates the whole of the SMP to the Inbetween. But he's still falling apart. Losing himself and his memories. Everyone's afraid and worried and unsure.

A Guardian of the Castle approaches Karl. It says somethings, fancy and cryptic and dramatic in a language only Ranboo and apparently Karl can understand.

"Dream," Karl says to the Guardian, uttering his true name, revealing his true form and freeing him from being nothing more than a ghost trying to guard Karl along through his visits in the castle.

Everyone realizes that the monster they imprisoned wasn't their friend, hasn't been their friend in years, but rather a dark shadow of his power and desire, twisted into something cruel and vengeful.

Dream and Karl hug and comfort each other.

Eventually, everything is resolved. Karl's deteriorating memory is fixed. Nightmare and XD are no longer a problem. And so on and so forth. Everyone puts their grudges aside and learns and grows and heals a bit during their time at the Castle before they left to finish off Nightmare and XD and reclaim their home.

Karl and Dream cry when they're both freed. It becomes a regular occurrence, seeing them cry over the smallest of things.

When everyone's hanging out and vibing one night, Karl realizes that he can _actually_ get married without having to worry about his memory or time travel. Dream realizes he's going to be here with Karl to see him get married and grow old and grow old with him.

That's the hardest everyone has ever seen them cry, and if a few others cry alongside them, well, no one needs to know.

Dream is Karl's Best Man at his wedding, because neither thought this day would come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea was bouncing in my head all day and while I did try and make it a whole-ass fic chapter, I just couldn't without risking the ideas escaping
> 
> If someone wants to make a their own fic on this, please do.  
> Additional details I forgot to put in: Dream is an easier crier at weddings in general. If Karl is being walked down the isle, Dream is the one escorting him. Dream & Karl hug a lot and are v cuddly w each other because they're both clingy and touch starved af (Sapnap might be jealous because not only is his fiancé cuddling with someone that isn't him or Quackity, but he can't even cuddle his best homie because its his best homie cuddling his fiancé!)
> 
> XD & Nightmare are like Ying & Yang. One's mostly 'good' with a bit of 'bad.' While the other is mostly 'bad' with a bit of 'good.' But the opposite element in each of them doesn't balance them but rather makes them worse, because Dream, the squishy human, isn't there to be the balance because he was split into three rather than two.
> 
> Dream's been trapped in the Inbetween, watching and placing the books but could never interact physically enough to where they see him and Karl utters his name and gives him back his form. Nightmare landed in the Overworld. XD landed in the Godly realm. Leaving Dream in between (haha pun) that


	25. Birdy Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream has Wings and is Philza's long lost son. Here's how that affects the story of the SMP, knowing that, in another life, Tommy and Wilbur and Techno would've been his brothers
> 
> Shout out to the people who claimed their ticket for my smile day post, and no its not the one that has normal text and if you don't know what I'm talking about. Good :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minecraft is the world, but it still has the many different servers and such as normal minecraft  
> The Chat is a special UI that people can talk through if they don't want to join the Voice Chat. Generally speaking, if people all log into the same VC but are also a certain distance near each other, the VC disables until they meet the distant requirements to activate the VC  
> It's a mix of minecraft being real life but also a video game (ala sao)
> 
> The plot that happens in the SMP is half-real half-not. Real enough that everyone's emotions on it are real, but not real enough for relationships to fall apart completely outside of the SMP

There were many ways the Winged could mask their wings. Cloaks, capes, jackets or coats that they never truly wear, tattoos on their backs. Now there was really no need to mask their wings, but they'd rather not need to have them out 24/7.

Dream, personally, hid his as a tattoo on his shoulder blades that looked exactly like his wings. Broad, powerful yet soft and fluffy, feathers a gentle yet sharp silver.

Dream personally hid his as a tattoo on his broad set of wings on his shoulder blades. He was made for speed and movement, carrying around a cloak or cape would just weigh him down, especially the usual ones more people have. Made to fully cover. Yeah, no, Dream's fine with the tattoo no one will ever see and learn the reasoning of.

Dream knew that Kristen Minecraft hid her wings as a short cape that ended around her waist. Fluffy thing, like her wings. Meanwhile Philza hid his wings as a loose coat hanging off his shoulders.

How does Dream know this you might ask? He's their son. Their long forgotten and replaced son. Now it wasn't really their fault that they lost him, really! It was Dream's own foolishness and adventure-hungry nature. He wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time and angered the wrong beings. He was thrown worlds away from his parents, with the knowledge that they have forgotten him. Now he wasn't sure how true that last part was, but after he started travelling long enough, meeting many different people, some of whom stuck around him, he didn't want to risk the chance of leaving behind his new family for the old one that might've forgotten him.

Then, sometime before his terrifyingly quick rise to fame as a speed runner, fighter, and entertainer, he catches wind of the famed Blood God's father, who had just died on his five year hardcore world. Philza Minecraft is his name. After word of his hardcore record death to a baby Zombie in enchanted armour reaches all ends of all player worlds, Dream starts _lightly_ researching Philza and his history.

Phil is known for his building, combat, and survival skills. A common symbol associated with him by his fans are his dark wings with the simple diamond shapes on the bottom feathers, and the hardcore heart. He acquired the title the "Angel of Death" on SMP Earth alongside his recently unofficially adopted son at the time, Techno, with their lethality as the rulers of the Antarctic Empire.

Phil adopted Wilbur a year after Dream was separated from them and promptly forgotten. Tommy came in three years after Wilbur, around the time Dream officially decided to make resident on Munchy MC with Bad after dancing around it for two years. And Techno, despite being the middle child in terms of age, was unofficially added before Phil started his five year hardcore world.

Dream was hurt upon hearing that his parents adopted kids. It felt like he was replaced. But he can't really blame them. They didn't know they had a son. A son that foolishly messed with powers higher than anything most ever faced. A son that decided to abandon them on the off chance that they did forget him. A son that was also a bit too rowdy, a bit too energetic, a bit too loud for the other kids to handle.

To say that Dream has some self-esteem issues is an understatement. Years of bottling up and living with the guilt that he was separated from his parents and forgotten by them by his own hands will do that to you. The fact that they adopted just added salt to the thought-to-be closed wound.

* * *

No one knew about his wings, and he'd like to keep it that way. Besides, most of the mini-game and pvp servers he joined wouldn't have allowed him to use them anyway. The survival servers would've given him mixed results, some banning them, others allowing him utterly free flight (not that he told them about his wings, he just observed to see if people with wings had them out. The masked wings were always easy to tell apart from regular clothing, at least to those familiar with the Winged).

When Dream started his SMP, he didn't plan on any strict rules with wings because he never could've predicted how much it would grow. The minute Tommy and Wilbur became part of the server, Dream knew it was only a matter of time before Philza would join, same with Techno.

But then things started to get complicated on the SMP. Nations, wars, discs, pets, sides, death, explosions, exile. It made his head spin trying to fit all that's happened in less than a year.

He disallowed Wilbur's attempt drug empire and scamming organizations, but then Wilbur twisted it into being an oppressed nation. It was clearly playful and half-serious and more joking, but a heads up of this comedic roleplay would've been nice. The theft and scamming and control of items, he can't allow as the server's admin.

He gives them their nation, but does give Wilbur a warning against trying the chaotic drug cartel and theft. The nation isn't really hurting anyone outside of the walls being a bit too cramped and making it a shitty place to build. And outside of Tommy and Tubbo and occasionally Wilbur's ego when him or any of the others step into the walls, it's fine. As long as they stop with the theft and drugs and causing trouble, they'll be fine. Mainly Tommy needs to stop causing trouble, but other than that things should be fine. ~~He doesn't mention or properly acknowledge, not even to himself, that the reason he lets them off so easy is because they're his brothers, with Tubbo being another unofficially adopted sibling he would've had. Even before the wars, Tubbo already felt like a pseudo-little brother.~~

When the Elections happened, Dream unbanned Schlatt par Wilbur ~~his brother's~~ request. Saying something about an endorsement? That backfired comedically, he was laughing so hard that he didn't even try to stop Schlatt from chasing them down with the crossbow the ram stole from his hands.

But then the results were announced, with Schlatt winning by 1% over Wilbur and Tommy. He watched the two brothers ~~_his_ brothers~~ descend from the stage and humbly accept their defeat. Dream watching atop a hill in the distance, because regardless of what nations and factions rise from here, it is still his SMP.

Schlatt looked more composed, almost threateningly so in comparison to the mess he was the day before.

He tapped the mic, and with a voice so calm and composed and cold, he spoke, "Well... that was pretty easy. And you know what I said, the day I got unbanned from the Dream SMP and the day I said I was running. 'Things are gonna change.'"

Dream remembers that, he remembers that after Schlatt ran Quackity, Wilbur, and Tommy out of both the nation and the VC, the ram looked at everyone in the eye. None of them were looking at him seriously. But then the ram smirked and fixed his suit and tie, before climbing atop the podium. He looked at every citizen from all over the SMP that decided to show up in the eye, even Dream who was partially hiding from his sight, and started speaking.

"You listen to me," His voice was calm, piercing, filled with a threat that felt so strong that it was true, "This place'll be a lot different tomorrow."

Dream never expect it to be the announcement of Wilbur and Tommy's banishment. They quickly drank invis and started running, but Punz' ever sharp eye manages to gun Wilbur down.

As Dream watched them flee, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on them on foot without risking them and himself, he did something he hasn't done in broad daylight in almost thirteen years.

He released his wings and flew, watching them from high above the clouds. As night descended upon the server, he perched himself on a tree to keep a closer eye on the two. He could see Tommy bring out his other communicator and contact someone from outside the server. Dream had a guess as to who it was, and he wasn't surprised when he flew to spawn and saw Technoblade log in.

It was only a matter of time until ~~his~~ their father would join them.

* * *

Dream gifts ~~his~~ the brothers with supplies and weapons and armour. He lets it slide very easily when Eret sneaks away to give Pogtopia supplies, when the King houses Niki, when the Badlands faction is formed, when the Badlanders offer aid and supplies to Pogtopia, Eret, and Niki. He makes sure that Fundy's spy base is hidden away, that there's a distraction when Tubbo sneaks away to Pogtopia, that Niki's gifts to Quackity, Fundy, and Tubbo make it to them and never fall into Schlatt's hands, that Eret's notes of reassurance to Fundy make it to the hybrid.

He starts using his wings more, as he takes a more backseat approach with keeping his SMP in order. He lets them do as they please, outside of killing in the holy land, trying to get to the End, and other server rules. Everyone acts so differently on the SMP than they do anywhere else. During MCC, they all still act like friends, and maybe that's because of the environment change and the lack of reason to have anything against them. Maybe it's because, at the end of the day, the drama that happens on the SMP is, to some extent, a dramatic act there to entertain their viewers.

All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players. If that's the case, then Dream might as well play director for a bit. If only to do what this SMP was made for, and help other content creators grow and thrive. With the focus on Tommy with Pogtopia, and Tubbo with Manburg, it gives ample openings for others to have their arcs without ever interfering with another person's.

So, Dream lets Eret have his redemption arc. Let's Niki have her own spotlight. Gives Fundy the chances and attention he's been denied. Lets the Badlanders, some of his oldest and closest friends long before his fame, grow and be shown and shine.

Eret's redemption arc is mostly them secretly supplying Pogtopia with gear and enchantments. If Techno notices a chest in his cow farm that's filled with Mending & Unbreaking III books, he doesn't question it. If Tommy finds a lot more medical supplies in their chests since he lasted checked, he assumes it was Techno. If Wilbur spots Eret helping train Niki in combat alongside the Badlanders, he still doesn't forgive them but its a start. If any of them come back to their base looking a lot nicer than last time, none of them pay it any mind. But they do appreciate the fact that it looks lived in and nice.

Niki trains and hones her combat ability under the patient teachings of the Badlanders and Eret. They gift her the supplies to create a crossbow as lethal as his own. Despite being known for being quiet and nice, her tongue is sharp and made of silver. She makes it a point to be a thorn in Schlatt's side when she can. She hides her true valuables in places no one but her can find and access (and Dream, but she doesn't need to know that. And if her not being surprised by the one or two additional diamonds and an extra netherite ingot in her stash is any indication, she's not going to try either). She leaves notes for those she cares for in places they'll find it, as well as treats and aid.

Fundy writes in his spy journal almost everyday, taking note on how Schlatt truly has no one on his side fully. Quackity's desires have always been towards fairness. Tubbo will always choose Tommy. How the man can put up one hell of an act. One minute he pretends to be a lot weaker than he is, only to turn around and become the sharp tongued, venomous tyrant they all fear.  
Fundy also writes in another book, that's a diary about his time alone with no one to confide in in any way. He knows Eret is still on his side from the little notes he receives from them. He knows Niki, even after he burned down the flag she worked so hard on to make, still cares for him. He knows Tubbo and Quackity care for him too. But Schlatt's respect makes him feel more seen than he ever has. He wants to follow Schlatt's rule and order, but every time he glares at Niki, who glares back with eyes usually so sweet turned fierce and cold, every time he shouts at Tubbo and Quackity enough to make them flinch, his fate wavers. He wants to follow the rough idea of Schlatt's rule, but not the spirit of it. Because the spirit of it is cold and empty and only there to feed the power hungry fool that he is.

The Badlands try to have their own agenda, their own ulterior motives, but in the end they're all too kind souls to do such a thing. At least not in a way that truly has venom. So, in the end they give Eret the friendship he's been denied by L'manburg for his betrayal, no care for her past mistakes and choices, only caring for the person before them now. They don't care about the crown, or whatever Eret can give them, they only care about their friend. They help Niki because they want to and she lets them, but only as much and as often as she requests. When she asks for combat training, they train her. They notice her potential with projectiles and give her the enchantment books for a very powerful crossbow. One that could rival Dream's own.

* * *

Wilbur's descent into madness is less insanity and more lack of hope. He's tired and wants to end it but he doesn't feel like the words will get through his little brother and his friend's heads. L'manburg can never be reclaimed because it wasn't the place that made it L'manburg. It was the people. Their values. Their spirit. Their friendship.

When Wilbur requests the supplies for the TNT, he notices Dream hesitate before giving him only a mere stack. Tommy steps in, trying to stop them. Tommy has always tried to play the hero, even when they were just kids playing pretend. He'll give him this, and it seems Dream has the same thought. They both play villains until Tommy goes to bed that night.

Him and Dream meet up and discuss rigging L'manburg with TNT like how the masked man did so during the revolution. He tells Dream the reason for wanting to blow it all up. That people are just fighting for a location now, a piece of land with no real meaning, and not the values that land was founded on. That if that land stays and is reclaimed, it'll never be what L'manburg stood for again. Dream understands, and gives him more TNT.

"When do you want it all to go?"

Wilbur sighs, heavy and so, so tired, "Either after the festival if nothing goes wrong, or maybe during a big battle? I don't know. Tommy and Tubbo, they're both such smart kids, but right now they're incapable of truly moving on. They're holding onto a land that truly means nothing in the end, not the values and memories and people that that place was founded and built upon. They need to learn that home isn't a place, not truly. It's the people you care about and the memories made that makes a place a home. They need to learn that L'manburg was never made to actually sustain a government, at least not a serious one. Because let's be real the only reason I made a lot of the decisions was because I'm the oldest and everyone defaulted to asking me," He ends with a breathy chuckle, before releasing another sigh, running a hand through his hair, "If that makes sense."

Dream places a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder, masked moved slightly to the side, enough for him to see one of the blonde's surprisingly expressive eyes, "It does."

Wilbur is stunned silent, not only from how _gentle_ the man he called a tyrant (half as a joke and half as propaganda) be to him. But also because that warm brown eye is the exact same shade of brown as his mother's. He doesn't even realize that Dream has said his eyes were emerald green multiple times until he's about to blow up the reclaimed L'manburg.

* * *

Techno wasn't Wilbur or Tommy's brothers, not legally anyway. But the latter two considered him one, albeit a bit distant. He considered Phil to be a friend, a friend old enough to be his father, but a friend nonetheless. It's not his fault Phil fathered him when they were hanging out and Techno's young inexperience was showing. When Wilbur was spiralling down into insanity, Techno didn't know how to respond so he didn't. It's not like it was his place to talk about the potential destruction of a nation he never knew or was a part of. He's just here to help his friends and take down the government.

Ever since he first arrived at the SMP, he knew something was watching him, or rather someone. He knew it by the subtle rustle in the leaves and the incredibly quiet flap of wings and the randomly large feathers he would sometimes find.

There was someone with wings on the server. Someone who has it hidden and wants to keep is a secret. So, it's not Techno's problem nor is it any of his business. He can weed out a couple of people who might be hiding a pair of wings by observing time frames and species. All the hybrids are out of the question, same with Bad. And after the festival, he can weed out almost the entire server outside of Dream, Sapnap, and George. Sapnap's out of the question due to the flier sounding close by during the Battle of the Lake. George is also out of the question because that man sleeps through everything and doesn't really care about the little playful story they're telling. So that leaves Dream. He has questions as to why the most powerful man on the server is hiding a trait that powerful, but that's none of his business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been in the drafts since January 8th, ever since the _Dawn of the 16th_ released this idea that Dream has a soft spot for Wilbur and Tommy because they're technically brothers
> 
> And as promised to the people who claimed their tickets on the 20th of February. Shout outs to you! Took screenshots


	26. Wedding - Continuation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens after Dre logs off during his wedding with Fundy
> 
> Low-key Inspired by It_Is_Rene_Now's [take on the wedding.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27917386)
> 
> The main SMP lore isn't canon in the real sense but more as off-handly as an RP, but the Dreamon Hunter lore is. Outside of that lore is free reign for this canon  
> Guest list includes everyone from the original wedding video plus: Puffy, Bad, Tubbo, Phil, Techno, Ant, Sam, Karl, Quackity, Velvet (Ant's plus one), and Skeppy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Past One-Sided Dream/George, Present Dream/Fundy, George/Sapnap

Fundy stood frozen as everyone screams and reacts to Dream's sudden log out, but George stands there with a stupid smug smile on his face that makes Fundy's blood boil. He kissed Dream without his consent. It didn't matter that Dream didn't pull away, he must've been shocked that _one of his best friends_ was kissing him. It must've been shocking to find out that the man you were in love with for years suddenly wants you after you've long since moved on and found love.

Fundy ignores the shouts and attempts of reassurance around him and goes to punch George in the face, cracking his stupid goggles and breaking his nose according to the blood on his knuckles.

 _"How dare you,"_ He hisses, "How _dare_ you come running after Dream after he's moved on from you. How dare you come to our wedding knowing you were just here to ruin it. How _dare_ you kiss my _husband_ without his fucking consent." As he ranted, he slowly crowded George more and more until he was grabbing the brunet by the collar and snarling in his face. "How _dare_ you ruin our special day."

George's eyes are visible now that his goggles are broken, and Fundy sees that they're not their usual brown but rather an unnatural swirl of red and bright purple. Fundy's breath hitches, before he suddenly throws George to the pillar he kissed Dream behind and staggers back into the concerned hands of his friends.

"Fundy?" Puffy says, checking on him alongside Eret, Phil, Niki, and Tubbo.

"Tubbo," Fundy turns to the boy in question, "Get the Dreamon hunting gear. Sapnap, contain George."

* * *

After the first series of incidents caused by Dream and his Dreamon, and the high concentration of Dreamonic energy lingering around the SMP, the Hunters had to tell everyone else on the SMP. They deserved to know that the set they were filming and living in has the potential of getting them possessed. It was a lot, but they managed to contain any other potential possession from the lesser Dreamons by having everyone wear something made of gold on their person.

Techno, Ranboo, and Eret all had their crowns. Sam had the golden chest plate and little crown he wore underneath his armour. Punz had his necklace. Tommy and Tubbo got golden pins to put on their matching bandanas. Wilbur swapped the chain on his pocket watch with a golden one. Phil had his ring on a necklace under his shirt. Bad's belt is laced with gold. Skeppy got golden earrings (or rather he has more of a reason to wear them now that it's capable of preventing Dreamonic possession). Niki got matching gold bracelets for several people on the server who were unsure on how to include something golden to their aesthetic. The metal chain on Sapnap's pants got swapped with a gold one, and George's goggles have been swapped with a pair with a golden brim and the colourblind lens. Dream and Fundy wore their rings similarly to Phil, on a chain underneath their necklaces.

Even with the new precautions, Tubbo, Sapnap, and Fundy still did occasional Dreamon patrol and found traces of Dream's Dreamon, dubbed Nightmare by Techno because XD just sounded cringe, lingering around. Angry and vengeful, and really wanting its vessel back. The gold was a good deterrent but it required them to have the gold on them at all times, and so moments without it would give Nightmare an opening to possess them.

Suffice it to say, almost everyone at the wedding knew some basic protocol when handling the supernatural.

It seems that George was possessed by Nightmare, maybe as a way to destroy Dream's relationship with his beloved Fiance and their friends, while also hurting some of his best friends. How is the question.

* * *

The Dreamon, Nightmare as they suspected, was quickly removed from George's being. It seems that George swapped out his gold laced EnChroma goggles for a silver pair for the wedding, planning on putting on golden cuffs on his suit to repel Dreamons.

Nightmare took the opening when George removed his goggles to take hold. Using George's jealousy and envy against him to ruin the wedding he was so excited about.

"Why?" They had asked the Dreamon after he was extracted from George's being.

"Why? I want my vessel back! There is no vessel more perfect for me than Dream, and I'm not letting something like _love_ remove my influence from him a third time!" Nightmare's chilling voice echoes around them as he trashes in the chains the Hunters encased him in as they try to exorcise him for good.

**Dream joined the game**

Nightmare smirks as everyone around him gasps, before he easily slips out of the "hunter's" awful containment circle. Everyone started screaming and yelling but by then he was already long gone and ready to take back what's _his._

"Oh Dreamy," Nightmare sings, as he turns the corner to meet Dream's shocked and fearful face before entering to possess him once more... before crashing into the pillar behind Dream, "What?"

He turns to try and lunge for Dream again, only to be met with the sharpened blade of a netherite axe with heavy gold accents pointed at his throat.

"I wouldn't try anything if I was you."

"How- how did...?"

Dream scoffs, rolling his eyes, "You forget, my fiancé and best friend are both Dreamon Hunters. And this isn't the first time you've possessed me, I've learned a few things since you last saw me."

"Like what?" He taunted, trying to claw for a weakness in his favourite vessel. Trying to find an opening to take control again.

"You really think I _wouldn't_ have my own _wedding_ be Dreamon-proof?" Dream asks, carefully walking backwards to the centre of the altar as everyone else slowly funnels in. Sapnap and Tubbo pearl behind the Dreamon to push him towards Dream's axeblade to keep him contained. "You really think that I would actually leave my own wedding because my friend kissed me? My friend, mind you, who's dating _Sapnap_ now. Honestly, you're a fool Nightmare and it's time we get rid of you. Fundy now!"

With that Fundy activated the circle to finally exorcize the Dreamon and destroy the string anchoring to Dream and his friends.

* * *

The wedding continues on as planned, vows are exchanged, kisses are shared. Fundy throws the bouquet and the lucky catcher is Sapnap, who comedically wiggles his eyebrows at George, who fake gags alongside Tommy and Wilbur. Sapnap laments to Karl and Quackity that his own boyfriend rejected him like this! At their best friend's own wedding no less!

Dream rolls his eyes at their shenanigans, but smiling nonetheless. This wasn't exactly how they wanted to reveal to their friends that they were dating, but they did request a dramatic reveal, and what a more dramatic reveal than using it to taunt the Dreamon that's been hurting them all? Besides, it made it so those two idiots could share several dances without getting too many questions. And made an adorable scene that Dream only saw a glimpse of before leaving, the young couple's foreheads pressed together as they held the bouquet on the balcony far from everyone else under the dazzling moonlight.

They knew how they were going to handle the 'joke' relationship the fans had with him and Fundy, and its really simple. Stop hanging out on stream. Because, well, they already live together so it's not that hard to do their jobs without having the other there and potentially outing their relationship.

Dreamnotfound is still strong and present in the fan's minds, but both parts of the ship have found their hearts stolen by other men. But what the fans won't know won't hurt them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been sitting in the drafts since Janurary 9th, I decided to suddenly finish it today. It's rush ik but I haven't uploaded a chapter in a good few days. Been too busy reading Smut lol


	27. HTTYD AU Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Prison Visits, Biginnit Hotel, Assassination Attempts, and His Death... plus dragons

Bad's visit to the prison remains relatively the same, outside of the usual Dream cuddles the Dragons thing. Given that him cuddling the Dragons, especially his own, won't effect the plot much, it should be fine.

Sapnap's visit is... cold. Patches and Cinnamon both wanted to join Sapnap in his visit but the two dragons kept hissing at each other the whole time and thus neither were allowed in with Sapnap.

Patches could be seen in the background of Sapnap giving Ranboo Dream's message for him. Nugget's pupils contract back into slits while Ranboo's form tenses, the two walk away without another word and disappear suddenly and almost magically from Sapnap's gaze. Even flying on Cinnamon isn't helping him find them.

* * *

Construction of Tommy's hotel went off pretty well and was a nice break for fans who wanted to see more Dragon and Rider content. Ember is a big help with the construction and supply gathering alongside Tommy.

Sam Nook doesn't have a dragon of his own but seems to be a natural with the beasts (its actually just Dream while Sam's the one typing in chat, but that's just a behind the scenes detail). Many of the wild dragons within the area don't mind pitching in to help and do their part. A young Typhoomerang is there to hiss at and scare off any creepers that approach the building while it's under construction.

Every dragon that joins in to help has to wear a little hard hat and its fucking adorable.

* * *

The Nuke testing assassination attempt failed because Tommy recently discovered Ember's taste for chicken, so he didn't stop her anytime she got distracted with chasing and roasting a wild chicken. Niki was frustrated beyond belief but could not show it, while Blitz did his best to keep her calm. The closest thing she has to a voice of reason in her character's current arc.

Jack did suggest to get his Changewing, Thunder, to just kill Tommy. But Niki was quick to dismiss that possibility due to the fact that everyone would know that it was Jack that killed him by not only the message in chat but by the evidence leftover. Despite Fundy's Dramillion having copied everyone's dragons' own flames, everyone knew that Fundy was off an away doing his own thing (plotwise at least).

Niki continued to spiral with Blitz doing the little he can to help, but never having it be enough. Jack attempting to commit murder. And Thunder getting banned from the construction sight unless it's to fly supplies in due to the fact that he's a Changewing and they naturally have softer and weaker skin because of their cloaking abilities.

* * *

Tommy's _last_ visit gets a much more brutal ending. They've been trapped in for a week, Ember, Patches, Dream, and Tommy.

Tommy finally gets on Dream's last nerve and he snaps. Grabbing one of the spines Ember shot out during their imprisonment together as Patches immobilizes Ember with her sting. Tommy is stabbed to death with his Nadder's own spines, bleeding out on the floor as Dream turns to do the same to Ember. The camera is angled so the viewers don't see it in all of its... brutality. The camera cuts before Dream makes his first stab at the dragon.

Chat is absolutely sobbing when they see the message in chat.

**Ember was slain by Dream using [Nadder Spine] while trying to escape Patches**

* * *

Once the cameras are off, the first thing Dream does is TP Tommy, Ember, Patches, and himself to the Off-Camera house (that's pretty much the equivalent of their trailers on a movie set) and hug them. Dream mumbles various apologises to Ember as he cuddles her and Patches while Tommy gets snacks and drinks ready for this comfort session.

When the dragons switch over to cuddling Tommy, he starts hyping all of them up for such an amazing acting job. Good job on the dragons for not breaking character, especially considering how heavy and dark the scene was. Good job on Dream for playing the amazing villain he always does. Good job on Tommy for staying true to his annoying self (endearing) but also standing up and saying a fair amount of harsh truths to Dream, bouncing between both annoying child and traumatized boy that has gone through more than he should but still has the fire to fight back.

After Jack and Sam's streams, the two of them and their dragons join in on the cuddle pile.

If Dream overly spoils the dragons over the next few days, no one can really blame him. He adores them all to bits and would die for them before he ever actually genuinely hurt them.

* * *

During the week Tommy and Dream were trapped together, it was really mostly just them talking about the script, how they can hurt the viewers more and how to twist their expectations while also staying true to the characters. Plus dragon cuddles, a lot of dragon cuddles. Mostly stolen by Dream because apparently, according to the dragons, he gives the best cuddles.

If the SMP's Discord's #dragon-pics channel is filled with Dream, Ember, and Patches being adorable in prison, then you won't hear any of them complaining. Except the other dragons, who are jelly and also want cuddles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dragon Recap  
> Nadder/Ember - Tommy  
> Speed Stinger/Patches - Dream  
> Changewing/Thunder - Jack  
> Razorwhip/Blitz - Niki  
> Night Light/Nugget - Ranboo  
> Nightmare/Cinnamon - Sapnap  
> Wild Dragons around the SMP can be any dragon you want as long as they're the sociably kind
> 
> Dream is Sam Nook's actor because him and Sam are around the same height anyway and it makes it so Sam and Sam Nook can seemingly be in 2 places at once. But the audience assumes its Sam because of how well Dream and Sam play off that illusion. Also because Dream and Sam wanted Sam Nook to be a natural with dragons and its much easier to just get the local Dragon Whispered to play him rather than train all those dragons


	28. HTTYD AU Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lil behind the scenes/interview type thing in the streams following Tommy's character's death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lily - the Warden's Deathgripper

Chat was suffering as Ranboo mourned Tommy. In absolutely shambles and tears as Sam blamed himself, as Sam Nook is left not knowing, as Foolish and Puffy build statues in memory of the boy with a fiery temperament but an equally fierce heart, as Tubbo, Sam, and Ranboo do what they can to find out who was the other accomplice in Tommy's murder. Who set off the TNT that locked Tommy in that prison with Dream. They needed someone to blame that they could actually hurt and punish, because Dream's already imprisoned with no attachments for them to hurt.

Their dragons could be seen doing the same. Lily was helping them search for clues and evidence. Nugget was bouncing between similar emotions to her rider, the sadness of mourning and the anger of grief. Luar follows Tubbo's lead perfectly, Rider and Dragon's emotions always matching.

It's revealed that there were traces of Deathgripper Venom in Patches' system during Tommy's death, how Dream got the venom is unknown but evidence suggests it isn't Lily's. When Patches recovered from the venom, she refused to eat for a few days. Spending her time at Tommy and Ember's graves, or gathering flowers and trinkets for them. An old mask of Dream's, one from the olden days of the SMP, is on her neck like a necklace. A reminder of the times when her rider still cared for her. A reminder of when he didn't lose himself somewhere along the way throughout the many war's he's been through. And maybe a cruel reminder that he might never come back.

Chat's in absolutely shambles as those details are realized, living in ~~S~~ pain on the main.

But then Dream streams. With his SMP being part of the title. Naturally a lot of people came in to watch.

* * *

Whispers of Dream and Sapnap could be heard along with the footsteps of players and dragons alike until Dream appears on screen.

"Is it working?" He looks off camera, instinctively letting Patches into his arms to cuddle.

"Yeah, it is, we're good," Sapnap says after a few moments.

Dream nods, before happily greeting chat as Ember, Luar, and Nugget keep walking behind and around him, nuzzling into his side and silently pleading for pets. Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, and Sam come in at several points to try and stop the dragons from knocking things over.

It turns out its not a lore stream but a behind the scenes stream, as a reminder to the fans that they're still all friends and to answer some questions about how they did certain things.

"How did we realistically grow the Blood Vines during the first Egg Stream? Please this has been plaguing my mind for months," Dream reads out, the dono frantically being misspelled and in all caps. Dream laughs before replying, "It's, um, like a custom world edit we coded for this. We're planning on using it for other, like, plot things in the future, maybe, but that was it's first test run of sorts. We have a separate world file of the SMP where we add on the vines when we're not streaming but someone else is so we can't add it just normally, we just overlay the file of the locations is expanded over the current one if its an area that hasn't been, like, blown up with a creeper or something."

"Did they actually think that someone was building all those vines by hand?" Tubbo asks, "Because by their tweet it sounds like they've been thinking about this more than most people should."

Dream shrugs, before Tommy reads out an ask, "How does Sam Nook have so many wild dragons helping him? Did you guys train those dragons or are they hired trained dragons?"

"Well, and this is unrelated to the question, but I'll let you in on a secret," Sam starts, before whispering to the camera, "It's not me who plays Sam Nook. I know! I know it's a shocking revelation but while Sam Nook does look similar to me, the person behind that mask isn't me. It's Dream. That's why all those dragons were so helpful, Dream's like the Disney princess of Dragons. All Dragons just love him."

Chat is absolutely baffled and/or screaming that they've been lied to and that everything they know is a lie. There are a few people cooing at how Dream's playing with the dragons, distracting themselves from all the pain of the recent streams with these big scaly murder lizards playing with a guy who's treating them like playful kittens.

"Why do the dragons love you so much?" Ranboo asks, before clarifying under his breath that it's not a fan ask.

"I, uh, I don't know honestly. They just do," He says with a giggle midway as Nugget playfully nips at his cheek, "I guess they just like my energy or something. It's one of the reasons why I'm okay with playing the villain, because we know that the dragons won't like murder me for real or something."

"Still kind of fucked how you murdered me with my dragon's own spine," Tommy comments, as Patches eats a bit of food off of his hand.

"YOU WROTE THAT INTO THE SCRIPT!" Dream retaliates with a laugh, "Our original plan was just me beating you to death with, like, my fist or a potato! But you had to come in and say 'oh you know what'd be more fucked up? If you stabbed me to death with Ember's spines!'" He says with a mock and overly exaggerated British accent.

"I like seeing our chats cry. Their pain is funny to me," Tommy says, blandly, before everyone bursts out laughing.

"True! True!" Ranboo says between his laughter as parts of Chat glare at them for taking pleasure from their pain.

They take a few moments to compose themselves before shifting through questions and tweets.

"Who owns the Typhoomerang? I don't think his rider has said anything about it yet so we're going to keep that a surprise still," Sam replies.

"Fun fact about that Typhoomerang, if I wasn't sick during the Masquerade episode of Tales of the SMP, he would've been the dragon by my character's side. I would've been the other butler, taking care of Sir Billiam's beloved Typhoomerang."

"Why did you send Patches though if you were sick by the way?" Tubbo asks, scratching the side of Patches' head.

"Techno, Ranboo, and I, alongside Karl obviously, knew that the Egg was going to be there and that us four would be the ones left alive. The Typhoomerang would've been there more so for the character interaction and comedy rather than the plot. That's why he wasn't present but Patches was."

_"Not an ask but I'd just like to say that I would a 24 hour stream of just Dream playing with and cuddling the dragons. Thank you for the seratonin today."_

Dream giggles lightly, "You're welcome, I guess. Oh, and if someone hasn't revealed who owns what dragon then don't ask about it. Who their rider is will be revealed when their rider wants it to be."

* * *

They continue like that for a good two hours, answering questions and revealing background information on how they set up the roleplay for the SMP. Other people funnel in at random points revealing information about their own characters and their dragons.

Dragon-safe food dye in his Flightmare's diet to make his glow red instead of blue for Ant. A lot of careful chemistry on the Eggpire's part to get their dragons' flames to be red, and a very small and controlled amount of eel in their dragons' diet to get the appropriate level of lethality.

Chat's also told of the general run down in dragon aftercare after a lore stream. A lot of cuddles, treats, and snuggles from their rider and Dream, because Dream just loves spoiling the dragons for putting them through so much and for doing such a good job at acting.

Hints of Tommy and Dream having videos with their dragons in it are obviously sprinkled in. Hints of a Songwing Pair potentially joining the SMP, but who the rider/riders is/are is unknown.

Outside of the clips answering questions the chat deemed important, the most spread clips circulating on tiktok are ones that zoom in on someone (usually Dream) getting lovingly tackled and stood on by the dragons and receiving nuzzles. A clip of Patches zooming in to crash into Dream is obviously edited with Sugar Crush and will most definitely appear in someone's media shares at some point.

The fanartists go feral once they hear that Dream and co love seeing fanart that includes their dragons. Some prefer the ones with their dragons being happy because it hurts them to even _think_ of their dragon being hurt. Dream particularly adores the art of him, Techno, Phil, and their dragons raining hell on L'manburg. Fire, ice, and tnt. Absolutely stunning.

It's a good day for the fans, since no one does a lore stream for the next few days after that stream. Only chill vibes and Dream in the background having an army of dragons following him like lost puppies trying to be sneaky and hide when Dream turns around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foolish - Sandbuster [Sand]
> 
> Concept: Imagine a blooper of the Tommy's death scene where Dream throws a potato at Tommy's head and actually knocks him out  
> Cue Dream breaking character to freak out because tOMMY FRIEND NO!!!!  
> And its just funny and adorable


	29. HTTYD Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FROM TOMMY'S STREAM ON THE 4TH OF MARCH 2021 THAT I AM WRITING AS I AM WATCHING BECAUSE HOLY FUCK YALL WIL, PHIL, TUBBO, AND TECHNO ARE WATCHING RN AND I AM CONTOPULATING

Ember is catatonic when she's brought back. Tommy and Dream's fighting falls deaf on her ears. Dream's tone taking a child-like fascination but the topic is something much darker than the tone should be used on.

Tommy faints, stream cuts off.

"Is the stream over?" Dream whispers, tone low enough not to be picked up by the mics.

Tommy gets up, dusting himself off slightly before giving his friend a smile, "Yeah. Let's get out of here. Who should I host by the way? I peaked at 510K holy shit..."

"Nice! You popped off today, Tommy."

"So did you, Big Man. So, who should I raid?" Tommy asks again, pulling up his stream, chuckling at Chat's tears, "Oh! Jack's streaming."

"Origins?"

"Yeah."

Dream hums, glancing at Tommy's stream, "Chat would've been in utter ruins if they all knew that all of the Sleepy Bois and Tubbo were watching."

Tommy laughs, shaking his head, "You're mean."

"Says the guy who wrote _that_ in the script for his own character! You caused this pain! I'm only adding lemon juice to the cuts that you've made and salted."

The two continue bantering before they turn to Ember, who's up and walking and as chipper as ever. Dream approaches her and removes the earplugs in her head. The two give her some light praise and reassuring pets and scratchies before Dream TPs them all to the Off-Camera housing area.

The moment they enter the house, Dream and Tommy are tackled by an extremely happy Patches, who is followed by Luar, Nugget, and Lily in showering the two blondes with affection.

The two are practically stuck in the living room for most of the day, letting the dragons find comfort and reassurance that it was all just an act. It's nice. Surrounded by the warm safety of the dragons that consider them family.

If someone finds the two of them cuddled up together with the dragons protectively surrounding them, a few pictures are sent to the group chat. But jokes are made without any real malice or venom, least one evoke the wrath of angry protective dragons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Also, here's a lil theory I have on how Dream's story might come to an end with the info we got from today's relatively short stream](https://mythical-fangirls.tumblr.com/post/644766701054017536/theory-inspired-by-tommys-revival-stream-dream)


	30. Birdy Dream 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the previous chapter of the same name  
> Dream is Phil & Kristen's bio son and has wings. His parents don't remember him but he does, and he has a particular soft spot for the adopted sons his parents got after he was separated from them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the first boarder, everything is 10000% on the day this is published, the stuff in the first second was written back in Feb 21st

Dream watched the Festival happen atop the highest point of Eret's Tower, hiding behind the clouds. He watches as Tubbo's encased into a box and Schlatt plans his execution before everyone's eyes. He watches as Techno is pressured into killing the boy who's, by emotional technicality, his brother. He watches as Techno shoots Tubbo, with Quackity getting caught in the crossfire before turning around and committing a massacre on the rest of the festival attendants, blood lust urging him to do so. He watches Tommy try to fight Techno in a fit of protective blind rage before the boy is chased away and slain. He watches Wilbur confront Schlatt. He watches Niki confront Schlatt, finally tired of his shit.

Niki is the one who takes one of Schlatt's lives this day with a crossbow made by her own hands with the help of her friends. Dream knows the Badlanders, Eret, Fundy, everyone is more than proud of her.

Dream is there during the Battle of the Pit, prying Tommy off of Techno and trying to calm the boy while Wilbur paces with anxiety through the base.

"Tommy," He said, gently at first before trying again with more sternness, "Tommy! It's not Techno's fault, at least not completely. It was Schlatt's, okay? You don't have to forgive Techno for that right away, or at all, but you need to understand that _no one_ was helping Techno get out of that situation. No one informed him of what the plan was for the festival today."

"And how do you know that you green son of a bitch?" _Tommy we have the same parents, please._ "Where even _were_ you during today's festival, huh?"

"I was watching from the shadows like I told you I would. Always have been. Having it be clear that I'm choosing a side would divide the server again and I don't want that."

"And why's that Dream?" Wilbur snaps, "Because you want to make sure you have money on both sides so no matter what you win?"

Dream sighs, had it not been for his mask he would be pinching the bridge of his nose right now, "I'm not choosing sides because last time I _did_ I was called a monster, a tyrant, and a _villain_ for not wanting someone to start a drug cartel with his little brother. When I was trying to prevent _capitalism_ from happening on my server."

He notices Niki ask Tubbo a question, Tubbo answers as she and Techno listen. A sort of dawning realization appearing on their faces as Tubbo speaks.

"Then why did you bring Schlatt back into the server?" Wilbur questions, anxiety (or insanity, depends on how you're looking at it) in his form.

"You asked? You and Tommy wanted another Endorsement for the Election and you asked for Schlatt."

"How did he have your crossbow, then? When he was firing at Tommy, Quackity, and I?"

Dream chuckles fondly, "I was laughing so hard he managed to take it from me when it happened. It was kinda funny, you have to admit."

"It's true it was kind of funny," Niki agrees with a laugh and Tubbo smiling and nodding next to her.

Wilbur glances between everyone with eyes that seem manic, but Dream knows well enough the fear and anxiety of it and places a firm but reassuring and gentle hand on his arm.

"Wilbur, you have more friends than you think. And I'm not planning on siding with Schlatt anytime soon unless he finds the secret to immortality or something." _Or if he discovers who my parents are._

Dream leaves Pogtopia later that night when the kids are all fast asleep and _safe._ Wilbur and Techno being the last still up. Wilbur, still contemplating on if his decision to destroy everyone's hard work or if he should let them hold onto a fleeting dream that might get them killed. Techno is still up grinding for gear after all that, not too guilty for his actions because he was born in blood. Blood for the Blood God and all that.

He has half a mind to contact Phil and get him on the server to reel in his sons, but they're all grown up now and more than capable of taking care of themselves.

Tommy's always been one to rush, so leaving the house to go out and adventure and see and explore the world as soon as he could made sense. He missed out on some lessons and things, since being on the road a lot meant it was more than easy to escape the consequences of his actions and thus the lesson the consequences would've given him. After getting to know the kid, Dream hopes to help him learn that his actions have consequences that he can't escape. That his yelling and shouting and rude attitude is just going to get him into conflict with people and those people being in the complete right because Tommy was the aggressor in most contexts and he has to face the consequences for it.

Techno was already sixteen when Phil took him under his wing, and he's faced a lot and knows better. Techno's a man born in blood, so him choosing as such was never a surprise. He doesn't have much to learn in Dream's opinion, but maybe that's because they're too similar. Skilled and famous for said skills. Determined, stubborn, and more than capable of holding their own in whatever situation the universe throws at them. Maybe that's why Phil took to Techno as another, although unofficial, son. Maybe a piece of Phil and Kristen's minds being reminded of him in bits of Techno. Different, but with similarities strong enough just to hit the right familiar notes.

Wilbur... is a more interesting story. With incredible charm, a silver sharp tongue, a clever and creative mind. Wilbur made L'manburg for the memes, and because it was just easier to have a name for a whole section of the server instead of specifying objects or singular builds. He and Wilbur discussed it thoroughly after L'manburg gained its independence, that L'manburg was founded under the guise of drugs and theft. Using his own brothers in wars that they did not want to be in and don't fully understand the consequences of.

Dream can't tell how far down Wilbur is, but he's his friend ~~brother~~ so he's going to do his damned best to make sure he's safe and sound and happy and gets some help after this is all over. He's planning on getting _all_ of them some therapy after this, because the fact that Tommy and Tubbo, two kids, are the frontier fighters of this is not good on their mental health. Not to mention Niki, who might be older than Tommy and Tubbo but still _too young,_ was living under Manburg's conditions alone still. Sure, people helped her but no one tried to fully get her out. She did it on her own when she had had enough of Schlatt's tyranny.

Gods, they're all so young. Him and Techno are barely adults. Niki, Tommy, and Tubbo are still in their teens and even less adult than him. And Wilbur, despite jokingly referring to Fundy as his son and taken to mothering the hybrid, is only a bit more of an adult than him and Techno. But with his declining sanity and mental health, he certainly isn't a responsible one right now!

But they're his friends ~~family~~ and like he promised for George and Sapnap ages ago when he 18, he'll burn the world for them. Maybe not as violently as he would for Sapnap and George, but he'd burn it for them nonetheless.

* * *

Promises are made to be upheld as much as they are meant to be broken. Dream planned on staying true and siding with the ~~his~~ brothers, but Schlatt had to know the unthinkable.

Schlatt's a man who likes his control and his power. He's always been a bit greedy with a bit of a God or Villain complex. But whatever he has going on in the SMP is something else. Something more. Something big and terrifying and unknown. Something bordering on the supernatural.

It isn't until Dream is standing before him, looking into black and blood red eyes does he realize that the man before him is possessed by powers beyond the comprehension of the SMP outside of the Dreamon Hunters and the Admins.

"Nice to be speaking with you, Dream. I believe this is our first real conversation since I've joined your SMP, strange, isn't it? How it is only now, when you're deep into planning my downfall and defeat, do we finally have a one-on-one conversation?" Schlatt— The Dreamon says, trying to act casual yet formal. Pouring them both drinks. Alcohol or poison, regardless Dream isn't drinking. Not trusting both the drink and his own alcohol tolerance.

"What did you summon me here for?"

"Can't a guy get to know the owner of the SMP he's in? Especially considering that this place was once a place only for you and your closest friends, was it not?"

"What are you trying to say, Dreamon?"

The Dreamon doesn't flinch at the acknowledgement of what it is, only smiling with fanged teeth, "I'm not trying to say anything, Admin. And please, call me Nightmare."

Dream recognizes the Dreamon's name, and he hopes that recognition doesn't show in his form, "Why did you ask for me?"

"Dreamy, we both want something from L'manburg's fall. You want the server to be united again. Like it was after L'manburg gained independence and before L'manburg was ever born."

He stays silent, unimpressed by the Dreamon's attempts to sway him. He cares not for nations or power, he just wants his friends to get along and be happy and preferably not murder each other for real.

Nightmare notices his indifference and slams his hands down on the table, "I know who you are, Dream."

"So does everyone else," He snaps with a scoff.

Nightmare smirks, eyes glinting maliciously, "I know who your parents are." Dream freezes. The Dreamon notices. "You're the child of the Angel of Death. The lost and forgotten son. A lost little birdy who's wings might as well be clipped."

Nightmare slowly approaches him, before practically pinning him to his seat. Despite the body it's possessing being Schlatt's weaker one, the power of the Dreamon is more than enough to overpower even someone like him.

Dream swallows the lump in his throat, hoping that his voice sounds steady and unfazed when he speaks, thoughts quickly collected, "I think you have the wrong guy. Wilbur and Tommy are Phil's sons. Unless you want to factor in Techno and Tubbo, then they're emotionally his sons too. But that's about it. Phil has no other children."

Nightmare chuckles, voice long since morphed into its own, "Dreamy, you and I _both_ know what I meant when I said that."

"Do I?"

Nightmare grabs his chin harshly, dislodging the mask slightly to expose his mouth, "Don't play dumb with me, Dream. I know about the broad, fluffy silver wings you hide as a tattoo on your back. I know about the heterochromatic eyes, one a warm brown and another a sky blue. I know that it was you who messed with powers you shouldn't have and separated yourself from them. How they forgot you oh so quickly and replaced you with that musician. I know that you have a soft spot for his sons— _your brothers_ and I will not _hesitate_ to use that against you."

"What do you want?" He chokes out, the Dreamon's words piercing and a bit too personal.

"I want you and your group fighting for me in the final battle."

"Or what?"

"Or... I tell them. Not just your brothers, but your friends, your _parents._ All of them. And if that's not enough, you forget I know about your wings, little birdy, and I've plucked my fair share of feathers before." Nightmare drags a sharply clawed finger down his throat, leaving a cut just deep enough to bleed. A threat and a promise.

"Fine."

* * *

Dream doesn't bother with any theatrics or formalities when he tells them.

"Schlatt... convinced me to be on his side. The man drives a hard bargain. We end this on the 16th. No questions, no rescheduling. Nothing. Okay?"

"Dream?" Tommy says, voice heartbroken and confused, "I thought you'd... I thought you'd never..."

"What could Schlatt have possibly offered you to make you switch sides so easily?" Fundy asks from the small crowd gathered and growing.

"If I told you, you'd all hate me more than you already do now."

He leaves it at that as he throws a pearl into the distance and disappears amongst the trees before opening his wings and flying away in the cover of the forest. He knows that Nightmare will lose, regardless of if it has Dream on its side or not. But the Dreamon is nothing if not stubborn and prideful, so it's not going down without a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Wilbur, you have more friends than you think. And I'm not planning on siding with Schlatt anytime soon unless he finds the secret to immortality or something."
> 
> THAT LINE AGED _SO_ POORLY
> 
> THIS HAS BEEN IN THE DRAFTS SINCE FEBUARAY 21ST I AM NOT OKAY WHY DO I KEEP MANIFESTING THINGS


	49. Puppy Pile - 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Platonic DreamNap & DreamNotNap Cuddles, sequel to the previous chapter of the same name
> 
> Original Date chapter was first drafted Feb 17, 2021

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **CW:** ABO, Non-sexual Heats, Angst
> 
> Omega Dream, Alpha Sapnap, Omega George

Dream spends who knows how long crying into one of Sapnap's scented shirts, heart aching and shattering, eyes burning from the tears, throat raw from his whines and sobs, breaths far and few in between his sniffles.

If he wasn't delirious with the hormones of his heat, he would wonder why he hasn't passed out yet. But maybe its because the cold and suffocating loneliness and ache of warm phantom touches just barely out of reach have him think it's been longer than it has been.

He honestly hopes to pass out, just so this ache and pain goes away. If only for a bit.

* * *

When Sapnap wakes up, Dream is still asleep on his chest. He checks the time on his phone and sees that it's late, he should probably get food ready for them. As much as he doesn't want to leave the warm comfort of the nest, he would really like to eat the pasta Callahan and Ponk made, as well as heat up the sugary treats Bad and Niki baked for Dream. He won't be gone for long, he promises, and Dream will probably stay asleep for a while.

Oh how wrong he was. He thought he heard a whine somewhere when the oven timer went off, but he couldn't have been sure and assumed not. It wasn't until an hour later did he notice Dream's scent had gone sour again.

Dream's awake. Dream woke up _alone._

He quickly rushes through the house, after making sure no burners or ovens were on, and curses at himself for closing the door, before he bursts in at the heartbreaking sight of Dream curled up into a tight ball, sobbing into one of Sapnap's shirts.

"Oh Dream..."

Dream's eyes, afraid and painfully sorrowful, snap to him and he lets out another sob before speaking, "'m- I'm sorry- I'm sorry- I- I-"

Sapnap's quick, but careful, in going back to the nest and wiping away his friend's tears, shushing him, "Hey, it's not your fault, okay? I shouldn't have left you alone. You did nothing wrong, okay sweetheart?"

Dream sniffles, hiccupping out small sobs still, and leans into the palm on his cheek, "Mh- Mhm..."

Sapnap pulls Dream into his chest and runs his hand through the blonde's hair, waiting for his breathing to stop being so shaky and broken. When Dream's calm, Sapnap asks, "Do you want to go down and have dinner or do you want me to bring it up to you?"

Dream's scent turned bitter at the suggestion of being alone again, he desperately clutches at Sapnap's shirt, "Don't leave, please."

"Want me to carry you downstairs?" He says with a slightly teasing tone to try lighten up the mood and get a tiny piece of the confident Dream he knows back out, but Dream simply blushes and buries his head in Sapnap's neck, humming a confirmation. "Oh."

Going down stairs with an Omega clinging to you is not an easy task, especially since Dream's unwilling to actually be carried down but also doesn't want to shift to a better position for walking. He manages to get them to the couch before gently dumping Dream there, but the minute he separates physical contact, Dream's whine makes his instincts violently scream at him to go back and cuddle the distressed Omega.

He compromises and scents Dream instead, as well as kissing him on the forehead, "I'll be right back, okay? I'm just getting the food in the kitchen, you can stay on the couch and we can watch a movie or something while we eat, okay?"

Dream chirps in confirmation, playfully trying to nip at him. He shakes his head, smiling with a faint chuckle, before running his hand through the Omega's hair once more and then leaving to grab the food and a tray so he can bring all of it and more to Dream without needing to leave him again. He doesn't think his heart can take seeing his friend so sad like that again anytime soon.

When he returns, he finds that Dream seems to have gone back upstairs, because a blanket scented by all their friends was currently draped over the Omega's shoulders.

He happily yips at Dream, who turns to him and chitters back. He places the tray of food on the table, moving the plates and cups and such into a neat positioning so they can eat in peace. He plays the first How To Train Your Dragon movie, it's a good movie but also something they can just mindlessly watch while eating. Especially because Dream's too busy trying to get cuddles instead of eating.

* * *

Dinner is Sapnap trying to eat and making sure Dream's eating, and Dream just wanting to go back and receive his cuddles, acting more like a touch starved kitten with abandonment issues and separation anxiety than not. Dream only finishes half his meal before he stops and goes in to nuzzle into Sapnap's side, humming contently.

"Dream, no," Sapnap gently moves him off, making sure the Omega's eyes meet his own and that his gaze is nothing but loving and tender, "Finish your dinner, then we can cuddle, okay?"

Dream glares at him, but it's honestly not that threatening since he's pouting and bits of his heat hazy and sleepiness are still clinging to him. He whines, shaking his head as he clings to Sapnap's arm.

"Dude, you need to eat and I'm not spoon feeding you your dinner," He quips, wiggling his arm out of Dream's grip. But then Dream wiggles into his lap and continues eating, back flush against Sapnap's chest, "Seriously?"

"Mhm," Dream hums, almost sounding a bit smug under the slight purr.

He tucks himself under Sapnap's chin and continues eating as the Alpha requested. Sapnap continues on too, albeit awkwardly with his best friend in his lap. But then Dream lifts up his own fork with food from Sapnap's plate. He looks at Dream with an expression that can be described with several words, one of them being mildly insulted.

Dream flushes a deep red at his expression, face dropping, and scent shifting very subtle, but due to Sapnap's proximity to Dream's scent gland, he can smell his friend's embarrassment and slight sadness in an instant. He sighs, with a hint of fondness, and lets Dream feed him.

Dinner is Dream sitting in Sapnap's lap. The blonde feeding his friend, while the Alpha wraps his arms around Dream's torso, head resting on Dream's shoulder, occasionally nuzzling into his neck.

* * *

When they're done with dinner, they put the plates and such to the side, opting to simply cuddle on the couch as the movie plays. Sapnap behind Dream, holding him and nuzzling into his neck makes those warm butterflies flutter in his chest, surrounding him in their warmth before settling.

Dream doesn't know when they moved positions so that they were lying down, his back to Sapnap's chest still, but he's not complaining. Especially when the Alpha starts running his hands through his hair again, an occasional scratch on his scalp only making it easier for Dream's mind to fall into a soft and warm haze again. He's surrounded by the warmth and comfort of both Sapnap's firm but gentle touch and his scent encasing him. He feels safe. He feels loved. He never wants to leave this sweet paradise, at least for now.

He's about to go to sleep when Sapnap suddenly asks, "Why didn't you tell us about your heat?" Sapnap's scent has faint hints of sourness in it that makes him internally whimper.

He takes a moment, shaking off the static in his head and tongue, "Didn't want to ruin the stream... 's hard to get everyone together..." He slurs, voice not as clear as he thought.

"But don't you get signs for your heat a week before it happens? We easily could've rescheduled, you know, and we wouldn't have judged your for your Dynamic. No one here's like that."

Dream hums, mindlessly, this is a conversation for when he's _not_ falling back into his heat, "'idn't see the signs... 'm sorry."

He notes that the Alpha's scent is more worried for him than saddened or angry, that's good. He wants the Alpha to be happy.

Sapnap sighs, a low, protective growl releasing from his throat as he does so, making Dream shiver. "When was your last heat?"

"'on't remember... skipped the last one... for the duel with Techno..." He finally opens his eyes to meet the Alpha's concerned gaze, "'m tired... 'an we talk abou' this later?"

The Alpha sighs, before kissing his forehead and nuzzling closer to him, "Okay, get some rest."

* * *

Sapnap probably shouldn't have tried to ask Dream when another wave of his heat was starting, but he needed to know. He doesn't like the answer, but knowing gives him a level of peace.

He's not happy that Dream skipped his last heat because of his duel with Techno. Especially because he remembers how stressed his friend was for the fight.

They were going to split the money, regardless of who won, but crowds of people waiting and judging and _betting_ on which one of them was better was stressful. Knowing that Dream was a probably experiencing his pre-heat symptoms only makes the concern in his chest burn brighter.

He remembers the crowds that tried to surround Dream and Techno after the duel. Practically suffocating them with how close they were and how they were practically pinning them to the walls. He remembers the many crazy fans throwing themselves at the two, requesting permission to court them. Alphas, Betas, and Omegas alike all threw themselves at the two most skilled Alpha combatants of this generation.

He remembers an Alpha, much taller than both Dream and Techno at 6"7, place an arm between the path out and Dream. Leaning far too close in as he spoke to Dream. Knowing that Dream is an Omega makes him infinitely more grateful for Techno when the hybrid finally had enough and pulled out his sword and dragged them both out.

He didn't and doesn't doubt Dream's capability of knocking that guy's teeth in regardless of his heat, but the fear of that situation is only amplified because Dream was _suppressing_ his heat. Combined with the stress of the crowds, pressure, and the duel, his suppressants could've failed under such stress, adding an Alpha that clearly _wanted_ Dream being so close to him on top of the many others before him being the final nail on the coffin.

But that memory is in the past now, he just hopes Dream doesn't do a repeat like that without one of his friends knowing at least. Can't have someone with as many fans and haters like Dream be left in a vulnerable position without back-up.

He takes in a breath, returning to the moment with Dream on the couch. His hand is mindlessly carding through the Omega's hair, gently scratching on his scalp every so often, eliciting a gently flow of purrs from his friend. He lets the gentle rumble of Dream's purring lull him to sleep. He should probably clean up after their meal, and take them back to the nest, but he's just so warm and comfy. He knows Dream is too considering how much he's purring. So it should be fine.

* * *

George returns to the SMP really late at night, having finally finished coding and testing something for a new video. He wanted to just put a halt on the project all together for the sake of Dream's heat, but he was _so_ close to finishing that he should do it now and not have to worry about it later.

When he was first summoned to scent some stuff for Dream's nest, he almost caved with Sapnap's request to stay the moment he saw and smelled his friend. Dream was both burning up and shivering like he was freezing. George knew well enough that if he place a hand on Dream, he would lean into it.

Heats shouldn't be this intense, the only way Dream's heat would've made him as weak and shaky as Sapnap told him is if Dream skipped his last one for some reason. But what reason would he have? His scent wouldn't have changed much to reveal his dynamic outside of a slightly sweet undertone that most of them probably wouldn't have thought much about, so he can't have done it to hide it from them. He would've just been a bit more clingy and cuddly, which could've alerted them of his Omegan status, if they didn't all pin him for an Alpha and could've easily brushed it off as his rut.

He thought back as to when Dream's last heat should've approximately been. A seven to five month gap between heats that last at least three days and at most up to a little over a week depending on the Omega and their health.

He paused from his work when he realized that the duel with Techno only happened five months ago, and that around the months during that was when a bit of the roleplay was starting up since Tommy had joined and the Disc saga began. With the L'manburg thing happening on the same month as the duel. Plus MCC with Techno for that month.

Dream would've had a lot on his plate, especially with his growing fame. He most definitely skipped his heat because of all that piling up.

What an idiot. He's going to cuddle the shit out of that moron when he gets home.

George snaps out of his thoughts the moment he enters the door and catches wind of Dream's heat scent. Sweet berries during the winter, with faint sprinkles of pine and... is that _mint?_ That's a surprise, because Dream's scent has never had anything even roughly _resembling_ mint and he's pretty sure that heats don't change scent's that much. But maybe it was what gave his scent the chill undertone it always had and only now can it be noticed.

He's surprised that the scent is so strong until he realizes why. Dream and Sapnap fell asleep on the couch, and apparently Sapnap didn't bother to clean up after they ate. Guess he's doing that.

He brushes off Sapnap's sleepy eyes blinking up at him, only nodding to the Alpha as he cleaned up. But he couldn't ignore Dream's little chitters and chirps as he slowly awoke, beckoning George to come and cuddle. He simply ruffled Dream's hair, scenting him again before swiftly pulling away.

"Let's go to bed, I'm not sleeping on the couch with you two." He walks away before they could give him an answer, but by the sound of Sapnap's footsteps behind him, he doesn't need to worry.

Getting situated on the bed wasn't much of an issue, because Sapnap was already holding Dream, nose nuzzling into the Omega's scent gland, and Dream was tiredly but eagerly making grabby hands at him. He slots himself so that Dream's head was on his chest. He knows from experience that listening to a heartbeat always, personally, eased his heat a lot when it got intense. Dream sandwiched between them, content and purring like a motorboat. George'd find it funny if he wasn't being reduced into a similarly cuddly pile of mush like Dream and Sapnap.

The warmth and comfort surround them is addicting, the firm touch of each other grounding them so they don't get too high off of the comfort. He's pretty sure he and Sapnap start purring with Dream at some point, but he can't say for sure as the three of them fall into a content slumber.

**Author's Note:**

> If you decide to use any of the sort of prompts I've created in this, credit me and whoever else inspired a specific chapter if there is another


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